
Class 

Book 

Gcpiglitl^?- 



COPYRIGHT DEPO&m 



«^ 



v^^ . / fs^ H^ 







ENGLISH PROBLEMS 
IN THE SOLVING 

For the Junior and Senior High Schools 



BY 

SARAH E. SIMONS, M. A. 

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
HIGH SCHOOLS 



SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 

CHICAGO ' NEW YORK 



1^3 






Copyright, 1920 

BY 

SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 



©CU571603 



JUL -b 1320 



^\S I 



PREFACE 

This book grew out of a course of lectures on the 
teaching of English, delivered in the Summer Schools 
of Johns Hopkins University for the years 1918 and 
1919. In response to the request from some of my stu- 
dents that our discussions of the problems confronting 
the English teacher should take on a more or less 
permanent form these lectures are now being pub- 
lished. 

Certain additional chapters are included because of 
the peculiar significance they hold for all teachers of 
English. It gives me great pleasure to state that they 
are the work of two of my Washington colleagues, 
Miss Emily F. Sleman and Miss Anne McColm, both 
teachers in the Central High School. I wish to ex- 
press to them here not only my great indebtedness 
for allowing their contributions to appear in this 
volume, but also my sincere appreciation of their very 
material aid in the organization of this book. 

My thanks are due to Mr. James Fleming Hosic, 
Mr. Samuel Thurber, and Mr. H. G. Paul for the 
privilege of quoting freely from their respective 
periodicals: The English Journal; The English 
Leaflet; and the Bulletin of the Illinois Association 
of Teachers of English. 

Sarah E. Simons 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter I. Preliminaries page 

The Junior High School 7 

Definition and Aims . , 

I. Composition \V / 

II. Literature 15 

Minimum Essentials for Junior High-School English 19 X 

The Separation of Composition and Literature 2%-^ 

The Problem of the Start 26 

The Problem of the Assignment 34 

The Problem of Correlation 37 

Chapter II. Fundamentals 

The Problem of Grammar 42 

The Problem of Punctuation 48 

The Problem of SpeUing 56 

The Problem of the Vocabulary 62 

Chapter III. Oral and Written Expression 
The Problem of Better Speech , 

I. Oral English 71 

II. PubHc Speaking 81 

The Problem of Written Work 84- 

The Problem of the Letter 95 . 

The Problem of Theme Correcting 104 

Measurement of Results 109 

Chapter IV. Interpretation of Literature 

The Choice of Literature 112/ 

The Teaching of Literature 117 

The Problem of Reading 130 

Imitation a Means of Appreciation 139 

Dramatization a Means of Appreciation 148 J 

5 



6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Chapter V. Some Special Problems page 

American Literature : 161 

The Magazine 167 

The World War and the EngUsh Class 173 

The History of Literature 176 

The Teaching of Poetry 

I. In the Junior High School 180 

II. In the Senior High School 189 

The Drama 197 

Chapter VI. The Teaching of Certain Classics 

The Odyssey 202 

Shakespeare 211 

I. In the Junior High School 212 

II. In the Senior High School 213 

Burke 221 

Bibliographical Hints and General Bibliography 

BibUographical Hints 231 

BibUography 

General Method 233 

The Teaching of English Composition 234 

The Teaching of Literature 234 

Periodicals 235 

Index 237 



CHAPTER ONE 



PRELIMINARIES 



The Junior High School. Definition and Aims. Minimum Essen- 
tials for Junior High-School English. The Separation of 
Composition and Literature. The Problem of the Start. The 
Problem of the Assignment. The Problem of Correlation. 

THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL 

The Junior High School is now an accepted fact in 
the organization of school systems all over the country. 
It has come into existence as a result of scientific study 
of the best means of adjusting the school to the 
physical and psychological development of the child. 

For the most part, this new scheme of organization 
has stressed economy of time, better mastery of sub- 
ject-matter through departmental teaching, early elec- 
tion, and subject promotion. In nearly every case in 
which the subject-matter of the junior high school has 
been discussed, little or nothing has been said under 
any of these heads regarding the teaching of English 
in the junior high school. Naturally enough, perhaps, 
in its beginnings the new school would be concerned 
with the two entirely new things which the system 
brought with it — the study of languages in the seventh 
and eighth grades and the introduction of vocational 
subjects. The fact that the teaching of English is con- 
tinuous from the first grade through the senior high 
school has, perhaps, made it seem unnecessary to make 
any changes in method. But this new arrangement 
does mean and should mean a re-examination of 



8 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

method and of choice of subject-matter in the teaching 
of English in the junior high school. 

Mr. Charles S. Pendleton says: "I beheve that it 
(the junior high school) has come to stay, and I be- 
lieve still further that it requires us to consider, not 
merely a new kind of teaching of English but two new 
kinds. "^ Certainly, if the difference in the physical, 
mental, and psychological equipment of the child is so 
divergent in the pre-adolescent age from that of the 
adolescent as to necessitate a reorganization of the 
whole school system, some very definite account of 
those differences must be taken in planning and teach- 
ing the course in English. Those of us who have 
taught in the four-year high-school course have always 
noticed the essential difference in the attitude and in- 
terests of the first-year pupils as compared with those 
of the upper years. We have felt, too, the difficulty in 
bridging over the gap between the grade-school prep- 
aration in English and the first year of high-school 
English. With the junior high school in operation 
we have the opportunity and the duty of planning 
more definitely to adapt the work in English to the 
particular needs of these three very important years 
in the junior high school. 

Before formulating a definite course for these three 
years let us see in general what our aim should be, and 
what advantages this new scheme of organization will 
bring to the teaching of English. To take up the 
second point first, it ought to mean the possibility of 
setting a standard of achievement at the end of the 
junior high-school course which will make the entrance 
preparation for the senior high school much more 

1, From "The New Teacher of English" in the English Journal, Nov. 
1917. 



PRELIMINARIES 9 

uniform than was possible under the old system where 
the eighth-grade teacher, heavily burdened with ex- 
ecutive responsibilities, divided her teaching attention 
among many subjects. Then, too, in the old system of 
promotion on a general average it has often been the 
case that arithmetic or some other one subject has 
been a sort of criterion of passing, and pupils notably 
deficient in English have gone into the high school 
to become a drag upon the classes there. With sub- 
ject promotion no student may enter the senior high 
school without passing in English. The junior high 
school might then, first of all, solve the problem of 
the senior high school by making it possible for the 
senior high school to work out its aims upon a basis 
of uniform and adequate preparation. 

This is not, however, the only benefit which we may 
expect as a result of the successful working out of the 
junior high school nor the most important to be kept 
in mind; for the junior high school will be for many 
boys and girls the end of their formal school educa- 
tion. It therefore becomes a matter of the greatest 
importance that the pupil who leaves school as soon 
as he has passed the compulsory school age should be 
equipped to go out into life with as thorough training 
in English as it is possible to give him. The junior 
high school with its departmental teaching offers the 
opportunity of concentrating upon the training of the 
pupils in their use of the most important tool they 
will need — whether they go into the senior high school 
or into business — accurate and forceful English. 

For the junior high school itself what shall be the 
aims, the methods, and the results to be achieved? 
In the first place, junior high-school teaching will 



10 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

need experts with an equipment not inferior to that 
of senior high-school teachers. It will demand, per- 
haps, even more in pedagogical skill. There is no age 
more difficult than that which the junior high school 
houses — neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. 

In literature the work in the junior high school 
should be extensive rather than intensive. Much 
reading should be encouraged, and in the reading em- 
phasis should be placed upon the pupil's own response 
to what he reads without much conscious reflection 
upon the subject-matter, either for analysis or criti- 
cism. It is largely a matter of exposing the pupil at a 
time of great absorbing faculty to much that is good 
in order that his tastes may be guided and set in the 
right direction. Literary criticism and history are of 
little importance. In the senior high school, where 
the mind of the student is interested in relations, the 
reading of literature should be associated with a study 
of types and with the history of the period. 

The character of the literature should be largely 
narrative and biographical. Much supplementary 
reading should be done. The classes should constitute 
themselves into reading clubs, and if libraries are not 
easily accessible, the teacher should endeavor to get a 
loan collection of good books to have in the classroom 
for the use of pupils. Most of the classroom work in 
literature in the junior high school should be oral. 
Reading aloud, recitation of memorized portions, little 
dramatizations should constitute the work in litera- 
ture. The pupil in the junior high school is finding 
himself in literature. He cannot do so without much 
experience, and since wide reading is the only method 



PRELIMINARIES 11 

of providing this experience, the assignment and direc- 
tion of supplementary reading become matters of 
paramount importance. Failing to do our duty in this 
respect, we shall leave the boys and girls a prey to 
the twenty-volume series of uninspired books that 
crowd the juvenile shelves. 

In composition, on the contrary, the work should be 
intensive, with accuracy as the aim. The pupil's work 
in the sentence should be as definite and as pains- 
taking as his excursions into literature are varied and 
care-free. For his future work in the senior high 
school he needs this fundamental basis. For his 
future life, if there is to be no senior high school for 
him, he needs still more to know how to use, orally 
and in writing, good, clear, forceful English so that he 
may communicate effectively with his fellow men. 

Emily F. Sleman 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Douglass, A. A. The Junior High School. Fifteenth Year Book 
of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part III 
(contains bibliogTaphy). 
Inglis, A. Principles of Secondary Education, Chapter VIL 
Library Leaflet: 

Certain, C. C. No. 5, May, 1919 (exhaustive bibliography). 
Teachers' College Record: 

Miles, W. R. "Comparison of Elementary and High 
Schools," May 1915. 



DEFINITION AND AIMS 

/. Composition 
The definition of language as ^Hhe vehicle of 
vocabulary for the conveyance of ideas" suggests, 



12 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

perhaps, the main aim in the teaching of composition. 
The function of language is communication. Mr. Leon- 
ard says that composition is not so much putting ideas 
together as it is ''putting them across."^ The power to 
make one's wants and desires known to his fellows 
implies a knowledge of symbols that are in general use 
for the expression of thought. Hence the purpose of 
teaching composition is to give the student such a 
command over these symbols as will enable him to 
make his wants and desires known to his fellows, with 
the least waste of effort and the greatest economic gain. 
Now what does ''the least waste of effort and the great- 
est economic gain" imply? What else than power to 
use language correctly and ability to express thought 
accurately? But we must not forget another function 
of language. It is a thought producer. Before we can 
communicate thoughts we must have formed thoughts 
to communicate. And language is a valuable aid in 
thought precipitation, in reducing ideas to a definite 
shape, nay, in actually producing ideas out of the 
vague nebula of our mental processes. Hence one of 
the aims in the study of the use of language, the study 
of composition, should be to stimulate thought getting, 
to crystallize thought. 

The pupil should economize your time and his and 
the time of all with whom he wishes to communicate. 
This he can do by knowing exactly what he wants to 
say before he says it. A request that has to be inter- 
preted falls flat; an exposition that needs to be ex- 
plained is unconvincing. Accuracy, first in the formu- 

1. The English Leaflet, April. 1918. p. 2, 



PRELIMINARIES . 13 

lation of thought and next in the expression of that 
thought, is the great desideratum. 

On this point a letter written by Adjutant 
General H. P. McCain to the President of the Penn- 
sylvania Military College, August 28, 1917, relative 
to the causes for the rejection of candidates for re- 
serve officers at the training camps, is pertinent. He 
says in part, ''Many men fail to measure up to the 
requirements set for our Officers Reserve because 
they have not been trained to appreciate the im- 
portance of accuracy in thinking. Too many schools 
are satisfied with an approximate answer to a question. 
Little or no incentive is given increased mental effort 
to coordinate one's ideas and present them clearly and 
unequivocally. Insistence upon decision in thought 
and expression should never be lost sight of. This 
requires eternal vigilance on the part of every teacher. 
It is next to impossible for military instructors to do 
much to counteract the negligence of schools in this 
regard. This again has cost many men their commis- 
sions at camp. Three months is too short a time in 
which to teach an incorrigible "beater-about-the-bush" 
that there is but one way to answer a question, oral or 
written, and that is ppsj.tiyely, clearly, and accurately. 
The form of the oral answer in our schools should be 
made an important consideration of instruction.'^ 

We teachers must resist the temptation to supple- 
ment or interpret the pupil's answer. The pupil must 
be held responsible for what he says; he must learn 
to stand on his ow^n feet, unsupported. 

Since the main function of language is communica- 
tion of thought, real situations and real people should 



14 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

offer the point of departure in language training. Self- 
expression, not re-expression of someone else's thought, 
should be the practice. Hence pupils should be led 
to talk and write to a real audience about things within 
their own experience with a definite purpose in mind 
to convince, to explain, to interest, or to amuse. Thus 
the letter becomes a very important item in the writ- 
ten composition course. 

. The point of view, then, in the teaching of English 
composition should be that of language as a tool, as a 
means to an end, the end being the intelligent and 
intelligible communication of thought by the employ- 
ment of symbols that are in general use. ^ The study 
of English composition should furnish the pupil with 
an effective instrument for intercourse with others 
whether that intercourse be oral or written. Hence 
the mechanics of oral speech for which we should 
strive are: (1) distinct and natural articulation, (2) 
correct pronunciation, and (3) a clear, well-managed 
voice; and the mechanics of written speech upon which 
we should insist are: (1) legible handwriting, (2) cor- 
rect spelling, (3) correct grammar and idiom (these to 
be required also in oral speech), and (4) intelligent 
punctuation. 

May we not then sum up the aims of the high-school 
course in composition as follows: 

1. To fix the habit of correct use of the EngHsh 
language in speaking and writing by cultivating the 
pupil's ear and eye so that he shall be sensitive to 
mistakes; by stressing the importance of correct Eng- 
lish in social life ; and by emphasizing its market value 
in the business world. 



PRELIMINARIES 15 

2. To fix the habit of accurate expression of thought 
so that the pupil will say just what he means in the 
clearest possible way, by developing the power of con- 
centration and the habit of thinking before speaking. 

And will not such aims consistently adhered to 
throughout the course give the community what it de- 
sires : a high-school graduate who, in the words of Mr. 
Charles S. Pendleton^ ''shall have learned, first, to 
stand on his feet and talk convincingly, conveying to 
other people effectively what he himself has thought 
and felt ; second, to write his message, and by means of 
the written word to convey powerfully to his audience 
whatever he has to say." 

For an admirable statement of aims in the teaching 
of English composition for both the junior and the 
senior high schools year by year see The Reorganiza- 
tion Bulletin, pages 30-38. 

//. Literature 

Now what aims shall we set before us in this task 
of teaching literature to high-school students? At 
what angle or angles shall we view literature for 
this purpose? Note Mr. Hosic's definition : "By litera-'' 
ture we shall mean, then, that species of idealization 
of human experience which employs language as its 
medium — poetry, plays, novels, essays. We recognize 
it not as something apart from life but as the very con- 
summation and fine-flowering of life. In a word, it is 
such an interpretation of life as enables us, through 
vicarious experience, to understand and appropriate 

1. In his article in The English Journal for November, 1917, on 
"The New English Teacher." 



16 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

the higher and richer aspects of living."^ We want the 
human, not the ''booky," view as Mr. Chubb^ puts it, 
so that we may interpret the literature of the past 
in terms of the life of the present, of the life about 
us. To quote Mr. Pendleton again, we should aim to 
develop in the pupil the power ''in his leisure hours or 
other while to listen to the speech or read the writing 
of someone else, someone who is a master in the use of 
language, and to appreciate and enjoy what thus comes 
to him."^ 

For widening the experience of the child, for 
stimulating his imagination, for introducing him to far 
countries and strange peoples, and then again to things 
and people near and familiar — in a word, to reveal to 
him the human touch in what he reads — for these 
reasons we give our literature course, which in the 
junior high school resolves itself into a reading course. 

The aims in giving literature courses to our boys and 
girls may be roughly summed up as follows. The im- 
mediate aims are: (1) to keep alive and foster the 
constructive imagination of the child; (2) to arouse 
an interest in words, mere words, so that his vocabu- 
lary is constantly increasing ("the words assassin and- 
bedlam have been known to offer as much narrative 
interest as a short story," says Miss Morse, in The 
English Journal for June, 1919) ; (3) to give the pupil 
power to read silently, rapidly, and accurately; (4) 
to give him power to read aloud acceptably; (5) to 
create the desire to make use of reading as a tool for 
increasing knowledge. Ultimately it is hoped that 

1. The English Leaflet, April, 1917. p. 9. 

2. The Teaching of English, Chap. XX. 

3. The English Journal, November, 1917. 



PRELIMINARIES 17 

the course will broaden the vision, lift the horizon, 
enable the pupil to travel far and see much vicariously 
of other lands and times, and through such experiences 
to learn to see the beauty in the common things about 
him, to appreciate the near and close at hand. 

In the teaching of literature the avocational aim 
should be paramount. It is, indeed, ofTaFgreater im- 
portance than the vocational aim. Today, when the 
whole work-a-day world is rapidly coming to be planned 
on the eight-hour basis, it is imperative that we teach 
our children how to use their leisure time. And here 
the teacher of literature can do more than the teacher 
of any other subject. The pupil who leaves the junior 
high school with the power to take real pleasure in 
the reading of a good book carries a weapon of defense 
against many of the so-called pleasures of youth, 
pleasures which are of occasional value, it is true, but 
whose habitual indulgence makes them, indeed, but 
'Vanity of vanities." 

May w^e not then summarize our aims as follows: 

1. To teach the pupil how to get the thought from 

the printed page; how to interpret the 
author's meaning in terms of his own ex- 
perience; in a word, to read intelligently. 

2. To develop the power to read aloud acceptably. 

3. To create the reading habit. 

4. To develop to a slight degree, at least, such an 

appreciation of literary values as will enable 
the pupil to discriminate somewhat between 
the worth-while and the worthless in litera- 
ture. 



18 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

5. To create in the pupil the desire to use some of 
his leisure hours in the reading of good books. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Would yon consider the vocational aims in the teaching of 
literature to high-school students? If so, what and why? 

2. If an elective course is given in journalism or the writing 
of the short stoiy, in the senior high school, show how the study 
of literature would help. Tell just what literature you would use 
in such courses. 

3. Should immediate rather than remote aims dominate the 
course? 

* BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brown, Rollo. How the French Boy Learns to Write. 

Denny, J. V. Johnston's High-School Education, "English," 
Chap. XI. 

Leonard, S. A. English Composition As a Social Problem. 

Reorganization of English in Secondary Schools, pp. 30-38, Bul- 
letin 1917, No. 2, Bureau of Education. (See also Bibli- 
ography on page 160 of Bulletin,) 

The English Leaflet: 

Leonard, A. W. "Themes for a Reading Public," April, 

1918. 
Ward, C. H. "Defending Camelot," October, 1916. 

The English Journal: 

Mclntyre, Mrs. H. I. "Giving a Purpose to Students of 

High-School English," October, 1917. 
Osgood, C. G. "The Artistic Teaching of English," January, 

1918. 
Pendleton, C. S. "The New English Teacher," November, 

1917. 
Rapeer, L. W. "The Outside of the Cup," June, 1916. 
Thompson, Margaret. "The Task of the English Teacher," 

The Round Table, September, 1916. 
Waldo, Dorothy. "English for Peter," June, 1917. 
Ward, C. H. "We Must Not Be Enemies," The Rotlnd 

Table, February, 1916. 



PRELIMINARIES 19 

MINIMUM ESSENTIALS FOR JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL 
ENGLISH 

What should be the minimum essentials in English 
Composition for promotion into the senior high school? 
What should the junior high school give the pupil 
after three years of study of the English language? 
The answer is brief. A knowledge of the sentence. If 
the child brings with him a keen sentence sense, a real 
working knowledge of the sentence, he will bring 
enou^. 

'The sentence is the unit of most importance in all 
language teaching — in the teaching of grammar, of 
composition, and of literature," says Rollo Brown in 
his book, How the French Boy Learns to Write. 

A Yale professor of literature was recently asked 
what the college would like most stress put upon in 
the schools. "The sentence" was his- unqualified an- 
swer. The children, first, last, and all the time, must 
show an intelligent reaction to the sentence. So it is 
with the sentence that we must begin, and it is indeed 
often with the sentence that we should end. The 
sentence is the Alpha and Omega of all language work. 

The pupil should know the sentence from the angle 
of grammar, as a complete statement in which every 
word plays a definite part. 

He should know the sentence from the angle of com- 
position, as a unit^of thought used along with others 
of its kind to build up a larger thought than can be 
expressed by the small unit. 

He should understand that thought compels struc- 
ture; that the kind of sentence used in any given case 
will depend upon the kind of thought that is to be 
expressed. 



20 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Hence the pupil should know the parts of speech as 
they function in the sentence, as they help along the 
thought of the sentence. 

He should know the phrase and the clause as they 
function in the sentence as parts of speech. 

He should know the use of necessary marks of 
punctuation whose only excuse for being is to help 
along the thought of the sentence. 

The knowledge of these things he should possess as 
his instrument for the fashioning of thought. These 
are the means which he should apply toward his end — 
the communication of ideas to his fellows. 

If the sentence is taught from the first not as an 
isolated unit, but in relation to other units of thought, 
the idea of the paragraph will be gained unconsciously, 
and more definite work in this larger unit of thought 
will come as a matter of course in the senior high 
school. The pupil will then be ready to understand 
the cumulation of sentences in building up a larger 
thought unit; the part of each sentence in develop- 
ing the paragraph thought; the idea of sentence con- 
trol of paragraph thought. 

In the matter of oral English it is desirable that the 
pupil when entering the senior high school should be 
able (1) to ask intelligent questions of the teacher or 
classmates about any subject which is under discus- 
sion; (2) to answer accurately and without help from 
the teacher any question (on which he is informed, of 
course) that is put to him by the teacher or his class- 
mates; and (3) to speak connectedly on some subject 
that interests him for two or three minutes. 



PRELIMINARIES 21 

The pupil should be able to write in class at least 
two paragraphs or groups of related sentences about 
something within his own experience. He should be 
able to proof-read his work so that when it comes to 
his teacher it shall contain no glaring grammatical 
faults and no misspelled words. (He should be en- 
couraged to use the dictionary freely.) The pupil's 
handwriting should be legible. 

Now in spelling what shall the pupil bring with 
him? 

May we not at least ask for: 

1. Desire to spell correctly. 

2. Knowledge of how to use the dictionary. 

3. Habit of using the dictionary. 

When the pupil enters the senior high-school litera- 
ture class he should bring with him the power to read 
to himself intelligently (silent reading) and the power 
to read to others intelligibly (oral reading). He should 
be able to read in a voice that is audible to the person 
farthest away from him; his word-endings should be 
clear-cut; run-together phrases such as "would uv/' 
''had uv" should not grate upon our ear. He should 
be able to listen with interest to the reading of his 
teacher or classmates and to reproduce what he has 
heard ; he should have the desire to spend some of his 
leisure time in reading other books of the authors 
studied in his literature course. 

With such an equipment further work in the English 
course in both composition and literature will be a real 
pleasure to all concerned. 



22 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The Reorganization Bulletin, pp. 114, 119, 123-128, 151. 
The English Journal: 

Fish, S. A. "What Should Pupils Know in English When 

They Enter High School?" March, 1914, 
Fontaine, M. B. "Articulation of English in the Elementaiy 

and High Schools," September, 1914. 
Randall, Julia. "My Bridge Approach," Vol. VI, p. 551. 
"Report of the Committee on the Economy of Time," Febru- 
ary, 1919. 



THE SEPARATION OF COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE 

How much time shall we give to the study of com- 
position? How much to literature? Effort to improve 
the pupil's expressional work both oral and written 
should be made in the teaching of every subject. Clear, 
accurate expression of thought should be insisted on in 
every class. Intelligent answers phrased in language 
which observes the rules of good usage should be re- 
quired by every teacher in the schools. We can never 
escape composition work; but definite study of Eng- 
lish composition as distinct from the study of English 
literature should occupy at least one half the time 
allotted to the English course. Recently many schools 
have been separating the English course into two 
parts, the study of composition and the study of 
literature, alternating the work in various ways by 
days, weeks, or semesters. In Washington, Detroit, 
Madison, and Chicago the semester plan has been 
adopted as the most satisfactory. It is in operation 
now and is working well both administratively and 
educationally. Reports from the schools that have 



PRELIMINARIES 23 

adopted the separation plan of the study of Enghsh 
seem to prove the success of the experiment. No 
school that has adopted it has gone back to the old 
plan. 

"Failure to distinguish between the primary aims 
and values of the study of language per se, the study 
of literature for social ends, and the study of literature 
for individualistic ends, leads to confusion in the study 
of 'English' in the average secondary school," says 
Professor Inglis. "The teacher either fails to analyze 
the special values to be emphasized in the particular 
phase of work involved, or attempts to meet too many 
aims 'and to develop too many values at the same 
time."' 

Dr. Snedden, in "A Letter to a High-School Teacher 
of English" published in The English Leaflet, Novem- 
ber, 1914, deplores the fact that "under the head of 
English we seem now to include two secondary-school 
subjects of essentially different character and having 
unlike aims — namely, jormal English, and English 
literature. One result of this merging of two different 
subjects is that the means and methods of teaching 
one tend to deflect and neutralize those appropriate 
to the other. So evident has this become to me that 
were I responsible for the administration of a high 
school at the present time, I believe my first step 
would be to place the teaching of literature on the 
one hand, and on the other all that pertains to English 
expression, under charge of different teachers, who 
would probably be quite unlike each other in tempera- 
ment and interests. I should take this action in the 

1. Principles of Secondary Educationj p. 445. 



24 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

expectation that each of these teachers would then 
develop methods appropriate to his subject, and that 
the teaching of each subject would as a result have 
a fairer opportunity for improvement than is now 
possible. I strongly believe that as a rule the same 
person cannot teach English expression on the one 
hand, and literature on the other, with satisfactory re- 
sults, because, from my point of view, English expres- 
sion and English literature for their effective teaching 
require methods of treatment, spirit of approach, and 
utilization of means which are fundamentally unlike, 
and even largely incompatible with each other." 

Professor J. Rose Colby's stand on the subject is 
shown by the title of her paper published in the 
Bulletin of the Illinois A. T. E., March 15, 1916. It 
reads: '^Shall the Courses in Composition and Litera- 
ture Be Divided? Yes." 

The course of study suggested in The Reorganiza- 
tion Bulletin for high-school English by the joint 
committee of the N. E. A. and N. C. T. E. assumes 
that the study will be divided. The reasons for sep- 
aration are summarized on page 129: (1) ^^Separation 
leads to the proper emphasis upon oral and written 
composition based on topics drawn from the personal 
life and observation of the pupils. (2) It obviates the 
difficulty of doing justice to the hard worker who is not 
brilliant in literature on the one hand, and the careless 
and dilatory but quick-witted reader of literature on 
the other. (3) It makes possible more appropriate 
aims and methods in the treatment of what are essen- 
tially different types of work. It prevents confusion of 
aims. The serious grind which is necessary for the 



\ 



PRELIMINARIES 25 

mastery of the fundamentals of grammar and compo- 
sition is deadly when applied to the study of literature, 
whose ultimate purpose must be the establishment of 
ideals of life, good methods of reading, and the habit 
of turning to books for the proper enjoyment of leisure 
hours. Finally, (4) it makes possible cooperation on 
the part of all departments from the fact that the 
teacher of mathematics and the teacher of science will 
readily assist in establishing habits of careful and ac- 
curate expression, but can hardly be expected to sup- 
port, except through general attitude, the teaching of 
poetry and fiction." 

The separation of the course in English is surely the 
part of wisdom, but Dr. Snedden's contention that the 
teacher of composition should be a teacher of compo- 
sition only, never a teacher of literature, is open to 
question. 

Let the course in composition be a course in the art 
of expression; the course in literature, a course in the 
art of appreciation and of intelligent reading. Do not 
misunderstand. It is by no means intended that the 
composition course should make no use of literature. 
On the contrary, literary models should be freely used, 
but they should not be the ones studied in the literature 
class. Nor is it meant that the teacher of composition 
shall be deluged with papers. By far the greater 
amount of time and attention should be paid to oral 
expression. A composition course can be made one of 
the most vital, as it is one of the most profitable, 
courses in the curriculum. 

Nor is it proposed, on the other hand, that the course 
in literature shall neglect the formal side of the work. 



26 • ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

In such a class attention must constantly be given to 
expression both oral and written. The pupil is to 
apply day by day the principles of good usage which 
he has learned in his composition course. But the 
main effort is to be expended in reading and inter- 
preting thoughts of great writers. And daily com- 
munion with what is best in our literature can but 
have an influence, unconscious though it be, on the 
pupil's own thought and his expression of that 
thought. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Show how separating- the study of English into the study of 
composition and the study of literature will aid in getting co- 
operation of teachers of other departments. 

2. Discuss the wisdom or unwisdom of having one teacher 
teach composition only and another literiature only. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education, p. 445. 
Miller, E. L. Separating Composition from Literature. 
Snedden, D. Problems in Secondary Education, Chapter XV. 
Ward, C. H. What Is English? p. 27. 
The English Journal: 

McComb, E. K. Vol. VI, p. 69, February, 1917. 

Struble, J. R. "Round Table," Vol. VI, p. 473, September, 
1917. 
Reorganization of English in Secondary Schools, pp. 128-130, 

Bulletin 1917. No. 2, Bureau of Education. 
Bulletin of Illinois A. T. E. : 

Colby, J. Rose. "Shall the Courses in Composition and 
Literature Be Divided? Yes," March 15, 1916. 



/ 



THE PROBLEM OF THE START 

It is vital to the entire course to establish the right 
understanding at the outset between the pupil and the 



PRELIMINARIES 27 

teacher. This matter of English composition in the 
junior high school should be looked upon as a new 
adventure upon which the pupils and the teacher are 
^^mbark together. Lead the class to believe that 
there is to be good sport all the way, and there will be. 
The course is to be a course in the learning of how to 
talk and wTite rather than in the teaching of English. 
The factors in the problem are the teacher, the pupils, 
and the subject. The work is to be cooperative work 
in which each shares responsibility. Two of the factors 
are dynamic, the teacher and the pupil. They are to 
play together upon the third — the subject, and this 
will constitute the process of learning, which under 
this method will be a pleasant and a profitable ex- 
perience. 

Getting started right makes going on easy. It is 
of course essential that the teacher discover early in 
the game just what the pupils bring with them. For 
he must take the pupil where he finds him, assuming 
nothing, regretting nothing. 

A series of ^^don'ts" may be worth noticing at the 
outset: 

1. Don't assume that the pupil knows much gram- 

mar — or anything else. 

2. Don't chide the pupil for all those things that 

he ought to have known before he stepped 
upon the junior high-school threshold. 

3. Don't scare the pupils into a state of non- 

response by a lecture on what they are ex- 
pected to do. 
Hence the following list of things to do at the start 
rnay be suggestive : 



28 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

1. Make the children feel at home in their new 
' environment. 

2. Start with something new. Give the pupils 

something to do that is different, if possible, 
from what they have done before. 

3. Start with the pupil where you find him. Throw 

away theories and face facts. The teacher 
should be familiar with the course in English 
in the grades below the junior high school. 
He should know what the aims and probable 
attainment of the course are. He should test 
for that attainment. It will require a certain 
amount of camouflage on the part of the 
teacher to make the discovery of what the 
pupil brings with him and at the same time 
to hold the interest of the class. Perhaps the 
next two suggestions may be helpful on this 
point. 

4. Introduce the club idea. Tell the pupils the 

composition class is to be an English club. 
The purpose of the club will be to learn how 
to use the English language effectively in 
speech and in writing. Each member of the 
club is to try his best to entertain and to help 
the other members. 
Ask each club member, for instance, to bring into 
the club a short paragraph about some personal ex- 
perience of the vacation time written to interest or 
entertain the other members of the club. It is to be 
written for the club, to be read to the club. The pupil 
will thus have in mind his audience when preparing 
his work. 




PRELIMINARIES 29 

On the following day, the first meeting of the club, 
the teacher will preside. He will call for the reading 
of paragraphs. Pupils will step forward and read. 

The class, under guidance of the teacher, will listen 
and comment. The comments will start with favor- 
able criticisms. These must be definite — not merely, 
'It was good," '1 liked it," etc. The pupil must learn 
from the start to find out why ''it was good" or why 
he "liked it." 

Then pupils may prepare oral or written paragraphs 
based in other ways on their experience. They may 
tell about things they have done or made. The teacher, 
as a member of the club, should share responsibility 
w^ith the other members by giving of his own ex- 
perience. He might well be one of the first to enter- 
tain the club. 

5. Socialize the class. The socialized class means 
the class in which, there is established within 
the group a real consciousness of kind; the 
children talk to an audience of their own 
kind; they are judged by their peers; the work 
is cooperative and democratic; the teacher 
is one of the group, yet always the leader, 
the director of activities, pointing the pupils 
ever forward. He is the power behind the 
throne, though the throne is sometimes but 
a pupil's desk. For in the socialized class- 
room one often finds a pupil presiding, calling 
on readers and volunteers for comments. 
But under this new classroom procedure the teacher 
must ever be on his guard lest liberty pass over into 
license. The fear of crushing buoyancy and spon- 



30 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

taneity may cause the teacher to refrain from inter- 
ference at the psychological moment. He may thus 
miss his opportunity to point the way and so fail in 
his mission. For first, last, and all the time the teacher 
must be the leader of the group, guiding, directing, 
controlling, though the process be camouflaged with 
the most consummate art. 

There is also the danger in this, as in any other 
classroom procedure, that the method, with pupils 
presiding and putting questions to their fellows, may 
become stereotyped. Hence the teacher must be ever 
alert, ready for a flank move or a change of front. 
Real socialization will make teaching more vital and 
dynamic than it has ever been. But a formalized 
shadow of the thing will defeat the purpose for which 
it was called into being. 

The socialized class is dynamic. Every person in 
the room is a participant in all the activities that are 
going on. And the teacher is always at the helm to 
direct the work, for we must never lose sight of the 
fact that it is our business to teach, to lead the pupils 
onward and upward toward our goal. Some progress in 
the mastery of English should be made each day. The 
teacher is still the essential factor in the problem of 
teaching. He is not eliminated yet, though some 
would say so. In conducting the socialized recitation, 
we must be ever alert lest we risk the criticism of Mr. 
Stratton in The Illinois Bulletin for March, 1919. He 
says: ''It may also be hinted that there is a pleasant 
system of innocuous education into which • so-called 
speech training easily fits. But for that anomalous kind 
of class, little more than a 'talk-fest' — whether it be 



PRELIMINARIES 31 

designated 'self-expression' or 'socialized recitation,' or 
'project' — no teacher is really necessary." 

A really socialized class will take a group pride in 
achieving results and in living up to standards set. 
Through this graup^jride we can work for the elimin- 
ation of errors in usage, in spelling, in oral form, in 
reading aloud or what not. In some graphic way 
the record of the group may be kept to show progress 
in learning to control errors. Charts can be made 
by pupils, or a large class chart by a member of the 
class which will show^ from week to week the status 
of the section in regard to certain prevailing faults. 
Group may be compared with group. Publicity and 
ambition are powerful spurs to accomplishing ends. 
For instance, graphic statements of this kind might be 
made as to the use of "and" in oral reports, as to 
certain types of grammatical errors — lack of agree- 
ment between subject and predicate; for example see 
the article, "Charting Errors," in The English Journal 
for April, 1919, by IMargaret Bell Merrill. 

An interesting study of the socialized vs. the 
academic method was published in The School Review 
for February, 1919. Mr. C. J. Thompson here re- 
ports that pupils in the socialized class progress 
faster and learn to eliminate mechanical errors more 
rapidly than those academically trained. 

Very soon the pupils must take stock of what they 
know in the way of correct usage. All the points they 
have learned should be listed. For this purpose of 
stock-taking the pupil should provide himself with a 
notebook which he may call his "stock-book." And 
he must be given to understand that he is to be held 



32 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

responsible from that moment on, throughout his 
course, for correct usage in each particular listed. 

He should also make a record of his weaknesses, and 
he should consult this list of what not to use every 
time he prepares an English assignment, either oral 
or written. He should work for elimination of faults 
from the very begmning. 

Both the stock-book and the personal record of 
weaknesses should be kept by every pupil throughout 
the course. 

The pupil should always he held responsible for 
what he has been taught. Hence, the teacher should 
never correct errors which the pupil, according to his 
own statement recorded m his stock-book, should not 
have made. 

Whether or not the course in English composition 
is to be considered a bore by the pupil depends largely 
on the start. 'It is, after all," says Mr. Cunningham, 
"a question of simple psychology. If the initial steps 
of the pupil's work in English are surrounded with 
associations of pleasure and success, a powerful 
momentum is thereby set up which will bid fair to 
carry him over the rougher places."^ 

The suggestions for the start in the composition class 
apply also to beginning the work in the literature class. 

The chief caution at the start of literature teaching 
is that the book selected for the introduction to junior 
high-school English should be of vital interest to all. 
The most universally interesting type to the pupils of 
this age is the short story. It is more easily handled 
than the longer tale. Hence it is strongly advised 

1. The English Leaflet, February, 1916, p. 4, 



PRELIMINARIES 33 

that the course should open with a good, live short 
story of the 0. Henry or Kipling or Richard Harding 
Davis type. Other suggestions about treating this type 
are given under the caption, 'The Teaching of Litera- 
ture," page 117.' 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Show how the junior high school will help to bridge the 
chasm now existing between the grades and the high school. 

2. Give reasons for and against an English course which starts 
in the primaiy grades and ends with the last year of high school. 

3. List the essentials in (a) English grammar and (b) English, 
and American literature that pupils should know at the end of 
the ninth year. 

4. Plan (1) a composition course, (2) a grammar course, and 
(3) a reading course for the seventh, eighth, and ninth years as a 
unit of the English course. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, Chap. XIV. 

Elson and Keck. Junior High School Literature (Three books). 

The Reorganization Bulletin, pp. 123-128. 

The English Journal: 

Foerster, Norman. "An Idea Course for Freshmen," Sep- 
tember, 1916. 
Hill, Murray G. "Another Word about Freshman English," 

April (R. T.), 1917. 
Leavitt, Charlotte M. "A Question of Preparedness," No- 
vember, 1917. 
Manchester, F. A. "Freshman English Once More, I," May, 

1917. 
Manchester, F. A. "Freshman English Once More, II," 
June, 1917. 
The English Leaflet: 

Warner, Francis Lester. "The Emergency Assignment," 
October, 1917. 

1. Many suitable stories for use in the Junior hi^h-school literature 
class are contained in the series, Junior High School Literature, by 
Elson and Keck, published by Scott, Foresman and Company. 



34 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

THE PROBLEM OF THE ASSIGNMENT 

Supervised Study 

The problem of the assignment is really the problem 
of supervised study. Knowing how to study is the con- 
dition which determines, perhaps, more than any other 
factor what the high-school course will mean to the 
pupil. The prerequisite of the course in English com- 
position is that the pupil shall know how to prepare 
his lesson with the minimum expenditure of vital 
force. Hence the need of teaching the pupil how to 
study — a need which is best met by the introduction 
of supervised study. 

What is the true aim of supervised study? It is 
not merely to help pupils to prepare lessons. By no 
means is it this. Its function is rather to point the 
way, to create a habit, to show the pupil how to study 
alone, to make him independent, not dependent. This 
last danger of making the pupil lean too much on 
others should, of course, be realized, realized that it 
may be avoided. Study, scientifically directed or super- 
vised, will tend to strengthen the pupil; will develop a 
sense of responsibility; in a word will make the pupil 
grow day by day in the power that will finally eman- 
cipate him. It is suggested that a part of every class 
period in all years be devoted, first, to a careful assign- 
ment of work for preparation, and then to an illustra- 
tion of how to prepare the assignment. Studying with 
the pupils in the years of junior high-school work will 
bring far better results and develop far more power 
than merely hearing the recitation can ever do. Under 



PRELIMINARIES 35 

the teacher's guidance the pupil is taught how to ask 
and how to answer questions about the work. 

First of all the pupil should learn how to use a book. 
He should understand the make-up of a book ; the title 
page, the table of contents, the index. Such questions 
as the following may be put to the class. What does 
each one of these parts give? Why should you know 
the exact title of the hook you are studying? Why 
should you know the name of the publisher? What 
does the table of contents tell you about the book? 
What is the purpose of an index? 

Let pupils learn the exact titles of the books they 
are using in school in all their classes. Never be satis- 
fied with an approximation. Accuracy must be in- 
sisted on. From the very first require the pupil to 
cite, exactly, authorities whom he quotes in his special 
topic work. Then, in the course of time in answer 
to the question, ''Where did you read this or that?" 
the familiar reply, ''I don't know the name of the 
writer, but it was a blue book, not very thick," will 
be heard no more. 

Let the teacher talk the lesson over with the class. 
Let him read aloud a paragraph in the assignment. 
The pupils may give it a title. What is it all about? 
What question has the author answered? What ques- 
tion do you want to ask about it? Here is a good 
chance for the pupil to learn how to ask a question. 
The teacher must insist on accuracy and clearness. 
Pupils will acquire the art if slouchiness in phrasing 
questions is not countenanced, if only intelligent ques- 
tions are held worthy of reply, 



3() ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The plan of the mdeterminate assignment as it is 
operating in the Wisconsin scheme is interesting. The 
assignment is not hmited, is not fixed, but is by no 
means indefinite or vague. Pupils know where they 
are to start and how they are to proceed. They get 
this knowledge from the careful supervision of their 
study. But they may go as, far as they wish to go. 
The boundary of tomorrow is never set. Thus no limit 
is fixed to the pupil's accomplishment; no check is 
put on the efforts of any individual in the class. Under 
the eye of the teacher the pupils start work in class to 
be continued at home, the amount done being deter- 
mined by the power of each individual. A report is 
made the next day by each child. Every member of 
the group knows hoio much every other member of 
the group is doing. Publicity is a great incentive to 
ambition. This method induces each child to develop 
to the full his native ability. 



FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

«> 

1. Discuss the value of spending- part of every class period in 
studying with the pupils. 

2. Discuss the importance of insisting' on accuracy in question 
and answer. 

3. Compare the relative value of a study period with the 
teacher and n formal recitation period. 



BTBLIOGRAPHY 

Bagley, W. C. The Educative Process, Chap. XXI. 
Colvin, S. S. An Introduction to High-School Teaching, Chap. 
XVIII. 



PRELIMINARIES 



BIBLIOGRAPHY (Continued) 



(9 



Earhart, L. B. Teaching Children to Study, Chap. VII. 
Hall-Quest, A. L. Supervised Studij, "Literature," Chap. XV; 

"Composition," Chap. IX. 
Sandwick, Richard L. How to Study and What to Study, pp. 

97-109. 
The Reorganization Bulletin, p. 72. 
The English Leaflet: 

Holland, Dorothy. "Supei-vised Study," April, 1919. 
The English Journal: 

Morse, Katherine. "An Experiment in Supervised Study," 
June, 1919. 
The School Beview: 

Bun-, A. W. "Directed Study," February, 1919. 



THE PROBLEM OF CORRELATION 

'The English of the entire school is the business of 
the entire school," declares Mr. Thomas in The 
Teaching of English. And Mr. Hosic says, ''All 
teachers of all subjects should insist on clear expres- 
sion of thought." Mr. Miller, Principal of the North 
Western High School of Detroit, goes so far as to main- 
tain that only a teacher of English should hold the 
position of principal of a high school. Then, he says, 
we may be sure of the cooperation of the other depart- 
ments in upholding good usage. 

Every teacher of English in every school in our 
country would be glad to make of these words a 
mighty chorus. The business of the school is, indeed, 
to establish a standard in essential matters of English 
usage, and having established this standard, to see to 



38 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

it that the pupil adopts it and uses it in his school 
life, in every class, in every social hour together, in 
all extra school activities. The habit of correct speech 
— not stiff or formal — but correct as to essentials, 
should be formed during the high-school course. It 
can be if there is active, interested cooperation among 
all concerned. The pupil first of all must be a dynamic 
not a passive agent. The teachers of other subjects 
and the principal of the school must work together 
with the English teacher for the establishment of right 
standards of speech and written expression. 

Convince the student that correct usage has a market 
value in his other studies and he will really try to 
form the habit of speaking correctly. For this habit 
will be formed only if the pupil is expected to express 
himself clearly and correctly in all subjects and by all 
teachers. Correct English is not a thing apart, for the 
English period merely ; it should be a part, an essential 
part, of all the work in school. Until the pupil comes 
to realize the practical importance of correct expres- 
sion he will be careless. But when he is required to 
watch his speech not one period during the day but 
five; when he finds that his work is not acceptable 
in any subject unless expressed in good language; 
when, in a word, he finds that correct usage has a 
market value in all his school work, then he will set 
about acquiring the habit of using good English. Cor- 
rect speech, not every now and then but every time 
that the pupil opens his lips while within the four 
walls of the schoolhouse, must be insisted upon if we 
would help the pupil to form the habit of correct 
usage. 



PRELIMINARIES 39 

The following minimum requirements for English 
form are being put into practice in some high schools. 

Minimum Requirements for English Form in All 

Recitations 
OEAL 

1. Position 

Stand properly. 

2. Voice 

Enunciate clearly. 
Pronounce correctly. 

(Say — going, not goin' ; and, not an'; kept, not 
kep'.) 

3. Language 

Speak grammatically. 

(Say — he doesn't, not he don't; every one of the 

pupils is here, not are here.) 
(Say — John, brother of Richard, ascended the 
throne, not John, etc., he ascended the 
throne.) 
Avoid the and, so, and ivhy habits. 

4. Thought 

Answer directly. 
Answer completely. 

WRITTEN 

1. Make papers neat. Avoid blots, scratches, soiling, or 

rumpling. 

2. Write legibly. 

3. Spell correctly. 

4. Write in sentences — not in 

a. Fragments. 

b. Statements unconnected except by the comma (the 

Central High School is large, it has nearly 
twenty-five hundred pupils). 

(For further requirements as to language and thought, see 
directions for oral work above.) 



40 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Teachers in all subjects realize how little power 
pupils display in asking and in answering questions. 
How many pupils ask intelligent questions? How 
many give accurate answers? 

Here is a matter in which all teachers are agreed 
that pupils need training. Let the teachers get to- 
gether on this point. Let them all decide to work for 
accuracy. Let them demand exact answers to ques- 
tions. Let them not be satisfied with approximations. 
And above all let them agree to make the pupil stand 
on his own feet. Let them stop supplementing the 
pupil's work, finishing his sentences, and repeating his 
answer in better form to the class. Hold the pupil 
responsible to the class. If all teachers would adopt a 
uniform procedure in this matter of the recitation, the 
power of the pupil to express himself accurately and 
correctly would develop rapidly. And the burden of 
the teacher grows lighter as the pupil's power in- 
creases. 

Make this matter of the question and answer the 
entering wedge for the earnest cooperation of all the 
departments in the high school. By working with the 
English teacher, the teacher of other subjects will 
come to see that, after all, the English class is but the 
work-shop where the tools that are to be manipulated 
in the work of every other subject are sharpened for 
use. What the English teacher wants is that the 
teacher of the other subject shall not allow these tools 
to rust but shall see to it that the edge is kept keen. 
An understanding is all that is needed for a close, 
persistent, effective cooperation in the work of all the 
teachers in the school. 



PRELIMINARIES 41 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. How can the teacher of English composition make the work 
vital to the teacher of science? 

2. Suggest ways of correlating the work in English with the 
work in history. Give definite illustrations. 

3. With what subject in the cuiTiculum would you correlate the 
study of Burns? Burke's Speech on Conciliation? Huxley's 
Essays? Illustrate how the correlation might be made in each 
case. Mention other cases. 

4. Discuss the cooperation of other departments as an aid in 
the teaching of composition. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Johnson, H. S. The Modern High School, Chapters XXV, 

XXVI. 
Thomas, C. S. The Teaching of English in the Secondary Schools, 

Chapter VI. 
The Reorganization Bulletin, pp. 130-139. See also BibliogTaphy, 

p. 172. 
The School Review: 

Hosic, J. F. "Cooperation in Teaching English," Vol, 21, p. 
598. 



CHAPTER TWO 



FUNDAMENTALS 



The Problem of Grammar. The Problem of Punctuation. The 
Problem of Spelling. The Problem of Vocabulary. 

THE PROBLEM OF GRAMMAR 

Grammar is the weak spot in our English courses 
and consequently it is the point of attack by critics. 
Our method of teaching English grammar in the grades 
is the crux of the whole matter. If we could spend 
the time that is now used or rather misused in trying 
to explain conflicting statements of grammarians, in 
hopelessly attempting to harmonize nomenclature — 
if we could spend this time in teaching the essentials 
of grammar from the point of view of use, our pupil- 
product would be far better than it is today. 

The course of study in the grades requires the teach- 
ing of the subject of grammar. The subject is touched 
upon in all the language books used from the fifth 
grade on. Terms and definitions denoting the same 
thing change from year to year and from text to text. 
If the variation were one of intensity or emphasis all 
would be well. But what shall we do when the key- 
board itself changes? If "a" were ''a" all the way 
through and ''b"' were ^'b/' well and good. But when 
"a." becomes *'b" in one year, "c" in another, and 
perhaps ^'d" later on, how can we straighten out these 
things in the child's mind? For example: In the 
sentence, John has a top, the word top is called by some 

43 



FUNDAMENTALS 43 

grammarians an object; by others an object comple- 
ment. In the sentence, John is a good boy, the word 
boy is varyingly designated as attribute complement, 
subject complement, predicate noun, and predicate 
nominative. And in the sentence, They elected John 
captain of the team, captain is called objective com- 
plement by Buehler; in apposition by Kerl; predicate 
object under indirect object by Brubacher and Snyder; 
complementary object under direct object by Scott 
and Buck; factitive object by Meikeljohn; objective 
predicate by Ward. The pupils, caught in this maze 
of terms, fail to get anywhere in the subject. Indeed 
the study of grammar per se in the grades is neither 
more nor less than an economic waste. 

Between the years 1906 and 1911 committees rep- 
resenting the most famous language associations, not 
only in America but in England and France as well, 
worked on the simplification and standardization of 
the terminology of the grammar of English and of 
foreign tongues. Finally in July, 1911 a joint com- 
mittee was appointed by the N. E. A., the Modern 
Language Association, and the American Philological 
Association to standardize the terminology of the gram- 
mar of the English language. And our hopes were 
high. But the report given out in 1914 was at 
best a compromise. The situation was improved 
slightly, to be sure. The atmosphere was cleared 
somewhat. But the terminology was not simplified to 
any degree, and while English grammars and compo- 
sition books issued since the publication of the report 
have introduced, at least in a footnote, the new 
terminology, no appreciable relief has come. A course 



44 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

in English usage would be far better in our elementary 
schools than a , course in formal grammar. Words, 
phrases, and clauses should be taught from the point of 
view of usage, as they function in the expression of 
thought. It is from the point of view of the part each 
word or group of words plays in the expression of the 
thought that the attack should be made. The sentence 
is the unit of thought at the beginning, the middle, 
and the end of grade-school language work. And with 
the sentence mastered, how easy is all the rest! 

The problem of grammar is a junior high-school 
problem, and the point of departure in all three years 
of the study is the sentence. The sentence is the basis 
of all language work. If the sentence-sense is created 
and made a part of the pupil's assets, we might almost 
say that the royal road to English teaching is dis- 
covered. For out of the sentence grouped with 
other sentences grows the paragraph, and out of the 
grouping of paragraphs, the theme, the story, the 
book. Develop the idea of service in teaching the parts 
of the sentence, all words pulling together to get one 
thought across. And then convince the pupil that 
word-groups, the phrase and the clause, serve merely 
as single parts of speech with one end, one aim, one 
goal, namely, to develop the sentence-thought. Thus 
simplified, the sentence idea should become easy of 
acquisition. 

The essentials of grammar should be taught as they 
are needed. And only those points in grammar which 
will function in the speech of the pupils should be 
taught. Fine distinctions between gerund, participle, 
verbal, and infinitive, for example, should not be 



FUNDAMENTALS 45 

touched upon. Sentences may be analyzed for thought, 
but formal diagramming, while having perhaps a '^puz- 
zle" interest is, generally speaking, a waste of time. 

The few things taught, however, should become the 
pupiFs own. He should be held responsible, absolutely, 
for these essentials. If each year in his school life 
the pupil could appropriate certain fundamentals, and 
the next year could start with these as an apperceptive 
basis for new points, progress would be steady and 
consistent. And that is what we should aim for. Let 
us then teach fewer points in grammar, but let us 
teach them thoroughly, and above all let us hold the 
pupil responsible all the time. The grammar of usage 
is the grammar to give our children — not only in the 
junior but also in the senior high school. 

In the following words Mr. Chubb sums up the 
central idea in grammar preparation of the student 
for the high school. ''It is," he says, ''the develop- 
ment of the sentence as a thought unit, and the treat- 
ment of words and the machinery of written expres- 
sion as functional elements of the sentence. New 
parts of speech, new sentence-forms, and new devices 
are considered as they come into view with the devel- 
opment of mental faculty and with the need of new 
symbols and modes of expression to keep pace 
with it."^ 

Roughly speaking, the following grammar program 
is suggested for the junior high school: 

1. Clinch the sentence-sense through approaching 
the problem of grammar from the point of view of 

1. The Teaching of English, p. 225. 



46 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

service, words and word-groups serving only to help 
along the thought. 

2. Teach the sentence as a whole, a complete unit 
though of varying degrees of complexity. 

3. Teach the sentence in its parts: the two basic 
elements, subject and predicate. These are the master 
parts; all other parts serve them. 

4. Teach the ^'other parts": single words, word- 
groups, the phrase and clause used as single words 
(parts of speech). Teach connectives as they func- 
tion in complex and compound sentences. 

5. Teach laws of service: agreement of subject noun 
or pronoun and verb, agreement of pronoun and ante- 
cedent. If the word serves the noun or pronoun, it 
partakes of the nature of an adjective and so must 
take the adjective form (e.g., slow not slowly). If 
it serves the verb, it is an adverb and must take the 
adverbial form. To be of immediate service, words 
should be placed near the words they serve. 

6. Teach certain usages: noun usage, matters of 
case; verb usage, principal parts of irregular verbs; 
pronoun usage, inflection. 

Have we omitted much? Perhaps. But we sin- 
cerely believe that the cardinal principle of all teach- 
ing today should be thoroughness — a narrowing of the 
essential requisites, a getting down to fundamentals. 
And there are many with us in this belief. After 
suggesting some such scheme for grammar work in 
his book, What Is English?, Mr. Ward says (p. 93), 
"Does it sound like a program of easy incomplete- 
ness? It would be quite the contrary. For it is harder 
to be thorough in a few fundamentals than to hurry 



FUNDAMENTALS 47 

through a thousand non-essentials; more complete to 
know all of something than to know only a little 
about some things." And he insists that we must 
always ask what words do in order to keep before us 
the vision of better sentences. Let the grammar slogan 
be then, "What does the word do in the sentence?" 

FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. Give a resume of Mr. Ward's idea of essentials in grammar. 

2. Work out the grammar program for the junior high school. 

3. Discuss the grammar of use versus the gTammar of classifi- 
cation for the high-school student. 

4. Show how the idea of service in relation to words, phrases, 
and clauses in the sentence will help develop the sentence sense. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, Chapter XII, pp. 204-232. 
^^^rapp, Philip. Modern English, Its Growth and Present Use. 
Leonard, S. A. English Composition As a Social Problem, 

Chapter IV. 
Stewart, C. D. Essays on the Spot, "The Study of Grammar." 
Thomas, C. S. The Teaching of English in the Secondary 
■^ Schools, Chapter III. 

Ward, C. H. What Is English? Chapters IV and V. 
The English Journal: 

Betz, A. and Marshall, E. "Grammar Based on Errors," 

September, 1916. 
Clay, M. E. "Grammar for the Grammarless" (R. T.), 

May, 1918. 
Cowan, Harold E. "Suicide English" (R. T.), November, 

1917. 
Fairchild, A. R. H. "The Verb and the Adjective in 

Poetry," May, 1916. 
Lasher, George S. "Roast Beef Instead of Hash," De- 
cember, 1917. 
Leonard, S. A. "Old Purist Junk," May, 1918. 
Park, C. W. "A Study in the Teaching of the Mothe. 

Tongue," May, 1916. 
Wilson, Emma J. "Shall We Abolish Grammar?" May, 
1917. 



48 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

THE PROBLEM OF PUNCTUATION 

"Punctuation is not a matter of mechanical correct- 
ness; it is an art," says Mr. George Summey in his 
Modern Punctuation: Its Utilities and Conventions. 
How many teachers of Enghsh agree with him? It 
used to be the fashion to look upon the comma lightly, 
and to regard the erratic appearances of the period in 
a sheaf of composition papers with a kindly tolerance. 
We heard a great deal about the necessity of preserv- 
ing the child's spontaneity in expression, about the 
deadening effect of too much mechanical drill, etc. 
That day is gone forever. Punctuation has come into 
its own. And why this new respect for a subject once 
thought undeserving of serious consideration? Be- 
cause we have at last realized how essential logical 
punctuation is to clear thinking, accurate expression, 
and good sentence structure; and also because the 
business world and the college will no longer tolerate 
a vague and inaccurate use of English. 

Granted that teachers of English in general are alive 
to the importance of punctuation, the big problem 
remains: How are we to induce our pupils to punc- 
tuate? We do not need to be told by the colleges and 
the world at large that they are sadly deficient in this 
necessary practice. Three reasons for this deficiency 
immediately present themselves: (1) failure to realize 
the importance of punctuation, (2) ignorance of 
grammar and the construction of sentences, and (3) 
insufficient drill. The first of these obstacles is the 
natural result of the practice from which we are emerg- 
ing, of neglecting the formal side of composition from 
fear of destroying the spirit. If we have underesti- 



FUNDAMENTALS 49 

mated the importance of the subject, logically our 
pupils have underestimated it also. They have felt 
that punctuation did not particularly matter, espe- 
cially if a composition showed a lively fancy and a 
telling phrase or two. Is there a teacher who has not 
been confronted with the question, asked in tones of 
pained surprise, ''What! Was this paper marked down 
just because I left out a few commas and periods?" 
That pupil has not grasped the fact that logical 
punctuation means clear thinking. We shall get what- 
ever we demand. Indifference will vanish when we 
demand from pupils accuracy and intelligence in fol- 
lowing current usage in punctuation as well as in the 
other matters of expression. A distressing ignorance 
of such fundamental things as grammar and sentence 
structure is a far too common condition. Punc- 
tuation, grammar, and sentence structure are so 
bound up together that punctuation, at least, should 
never be taught separately, or as a thing in itself. Mr. 
C. H. Ward, who has written with refreshing saneness 
on the subject, says that the teaching of punctuation 
must begin with the teaching of grammar. Obviously, 
the study of the sentence involves the study of the 
accompanying rules of punctuation. Indeed, punctua- 
tion is so essential a part of the sentence that it can be 
made an aid to better sentence construction. How- 
ever, in the writer's opinion, based on long years of 
struggle with this problem, it is the third item in the 
list which accounts for most of the sins against 
punctuation — insufficient drill. We have been too 
afraid of deadening our work. We have needed the 
time for the one thousand other things which the 



50 ENGLISPI PROBLEMS 

English Department must attend to! We have, in 
short, failed to establish as habits the application of 
the few rules of punctuation essential to clearness and 
accuracy of expression. This is the key to the solu- 
tion of the problem of inducing our pupils to punc- 
tuate. Give them the right point of view. Stress 
the importance of punctuation as a means of clarifying 
thought. Make clear the fact that its function is to 
separate ideas not closely connected, and to show the 
degree of relation between them. Remember the in- 
terdependence of punctuation, grammar, and sentence 
structure. Select a few rules for practice in a given 
period, and drill upon those few until their applica- 
tion becomes automatic. 

Certain minimum standards in form for each year 
should be agreed upon, and those principles estab- 
lished as habits. The Head of the Massachusetts 
State Normal School, John J. Mahoney, gives .the fol- 
lowing principles to be mastered by the end of the 
seventh year: 

1. End punctuation: period, exclamation point, 

and interrogation point. 

2. The comma in simple direct quotations. 

3. The comma in letter headings. 

He makes one addition to the list for the eighth 
year, namely, 

4. The comma after an adverbial clause coming 

before the subject. 
Sterling Andrus Leonard gives the following list: 

1. End punctuation. 

2. The comma in the series. 



FUNDAMENTALS 51 

3. The comma setting off grammatically inde- 

pendent words and phrases. 

4. The comma in the compound sentence with 

conjunction. 
However, these lists can be only suggestive. The 
situation that confronts the teacher of a group of ninth- 
grade pupils has nothing to do with a theoretical list. 
It will be found usually that pupils have been taught 
certain rules for the comma, but that they do not 
apply them. An examination of a typical set of com- 
positions wull reveal the usual errors: no end period, 
members of a series not separated, independent clauses 
of a series not separated, and various miscellaneous 
mistakes. The selection of the rules for practice will 
depend on the needs of the class, according to the 
preparation they have had. Pupils are interested in 
discovering from their own papers what they most 
need practice on, and in making up a list together 
for drill. Sometimes this list may be amended or con- 
firmed by an examination of current literature — maga- 
zine articles, editorials, short stories, etc. — to discover 
the three or four rules that are observed most fre- 
quently, and that are therefore most useful in the ex- 
pression of thought. Obviously, care must be taken to 
suggest for examination only those magazines and 
newspapers that maintain a high standard of English, 
and to limit the search to one point, the comma, as that 
is likely to need attention first. The greatest hindrance 
to success is the temptation to try to establish too 
many rules in a given time. Three or four ^'punctua- 
tion habits" clearly and firmly fixed in a year would be 
a reasonable accomplishment. One thing is fatal to 



52 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

success — to accept anything less than one hundred per 
cent achievement. The trouble is that we have been 
content with an approximate result. Only if we de- 
mand perfection shall we get it. 

One of the most helpful devices in teaching punctua- 
tion is dictation. The value lies in the fact that the 
pupil catches the words in their natural thought 
groups. The dictation should consist of complete, in- 
teresting paragraphs, not isolated or detached sen- 
tences. The selection should not be too long, and the 
words and ideas should be within the pupils' grasp. 
If the passages are chosen from books and articles that 
appeal to the class, the work becomes a pleasure. The 
writings of Kipling, Ian Hay, Booth Tarkington, John 
Muir, and Dr. Grenfell furnish excellent material. 
Dictation is of course only a mechanical device, but it 
is useful in clinching forms. In the French schools, 
where the children are taught to use their own lan- 
guage with real skill and even beauty, dictation is con- 
sidered a valuable aid. 

The relation between oral and written punctuation 
should be stressed. This is sometimes brought out 
naturally by the attempt of one pupil to read the com- 
position of another. Failure to get the thought is 
frequently the result of inadequate punctuation, and 
the pupils are quick to see this fact. Much of the drill 
for breaking up the ^'and'^ and ^'so" habits and estab- 
lishing the end-of-the-sentence habit should be done 
orally, and the commas should be required in this work 
as well as the periods. 

In a socialized class — and all classes are socialized 
now-a-days — much can be accomplished by pupil cor- 



FUNDAMENTALS 53 

rection of written work. Attention should be focused 
on the one or two principles under drill, however, and 
not diverted to other matters. If it is the comma-in- 
the-series habit that the class is attempting to estab- 
lish, let them look only for the occurrence of a series 
of words, phrases, or clauses, and make sure of the 
commas, especially of the one before the '^and." Group 
competition may arouse interest at the moment when 
the drill threatens to become monotonous. Graphs for 
the respective groups showing their progress is a 
stimulating way of keeping the record. 

The most valuable aid of all is the cooperation of 
the teachers of other subjects. Their own work is 
always pressing, but if the requests from the English 
Department are sufficiently definite, they may find it 
possible to take their share of the responsibility for 
the good English of the pupils. Cards should be sent 
to the other teachers of a class stating the punctua- 
tion habits the class is trying to establish, and asking 
that those specific points receive attention in their 
classrooms also. 

Few new principles should be given in the ninth 
year. The rules for the comma, however, should now 
be grouped according to the two underlying principles 
governing its use: (1) to set off, as in the case of 
parenthetical words, participial modifiers, etc.; and 
(2) to separate, as in the case of the series, appositives, 
etc. This is the time to teach the one use of the semi- 
colon which is necessary at this stage of the pupiFs 
growth in sentence structure — that is, to separate 
statements grammatically independent while closely 
related in thought. The distinction between restric- 



54 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

tive and non-restrictive modij&ers is so difficult that it 
will not be mastered in the ninth year, but it should 
be begun there, and continued and developed through 
the next two years. A helpful device is to teach that 
certain conjunctions invariably add non-restrictive 
clauses: though, although, so, so that, and so; for, as, 
and since when showing a reason. The committee of 
teachers of English appointed by the National Educa- 
tion Association to report on the Economy of Time ad- 
vises teaching the distinction between conjunctions 
proper {as, for, but, etc.) which require commas, and 
independent adverbs (then, nevertheless, etc.) which 
require semicolons or periods. 

In the tenth year the point on which most practice 
is needed will probably be the matter of restrictive and 
non-restrictive elements. The use of the semicolon 
presents little difficulty if the sentence sense has been 
developed, but, of course, practice is necessary before it 
becomes instinctive. There will be a few troublesome 
comma rules, or rules which could not be attended to 
in the ninth year. At this time the composition work 
may demand a knowledge of the colon in the only 
modern use in the sentence remaining — to introduce. 
To fix firmly these four or five matters is enough for 
one year. 

If the aims of the ninth and tenth years are actually 
accomplished, there should be less necessity for drill in 
the last two years of the high school. It should be 
possible at this time to present a broader idea of the 
function of punctuation. The possibilities latent in 
the semicolon and the comma in giving another turn 
to the thought — a delicate shade of emphasis — are 



FUNDAMENTALS 55 

not beyond the grasp of an intelligent class. Neither 
is the fact that certain questions of pointing in the sen- 
tence can be settled only with reference to the meaning 
and movement of the paragraph. A study of the finer 
shades of the art of punctuation obviously belongs to 
college, not to the high school, but as much of the 
theory can be given as the needs and capacity of the 
class demand. 

Whatever principles are taught, we should keep in 
mind the caution of the psychologists, that calling at- 
tention to a form before we are ready to give full, 
unremitting attention to its establishment can prob- 
ably have no other result than confusion and repres- 
sion. Present a principle only when its need is clearly 
evident, then ^'attend" to it — drill on it until it is estab- 
lished. To quote Mr. Leonard again, ^^Attack that is 
not prepared, concentrated, and determined has little 
chance for success." 

Teachers may conserve their energy and that of 
their pupils by avoiding wasted effort. Usage changes 
in punctuation as well as in other matters. Certain 
rules found in textbooks still in use in many schools 
are no longer observed in actual practice. Modern 
preference favors the use of the fewest and the least 
obtrusive marks that will do the required work. Re- 
cent manuals and the best current literature should 
be consulted frequently and systematically to gain a 
precise knowledge of the contemporary code of punc- 
tuation. This elimination of dead material will make 
more practicable the plan of concentration upon a few 
rules each year and their establishment as matters of 
habit. And this achievement, the fixing of correct 



56 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

habits in the matter, is the vital thing in the teaching 
of punctuation. ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss Ward's views on punctuation in his book, What Is 
English?, Chapters VI, VII, VIII. 

2. What uses of the comma would you suggest as most im- 
portant ? 

3. How and when would "ou deal with restrictive and non- 
restrictive clauses? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Klein, W. L. Why We Punctuate. 

Leonard, S. A. English Composition As a Social Problem, p. 126. 
Mahoney, John J. Standards in English. 
Summey, George, Jr. Modern Punctuation: Its Utilities and 

Conventions. 
Ward, C. H. What Is English?, Chapters VI, VII, VIII. 
Manuals since 1900 (in the order of their publication) ; De Vinne, 

Orcutt, Teall, Klein, McCraeken and Sandison, Manly and 

Powell (revised in 1919). The last named is a combination 

of academic and typographical authority. 
The English Journal: 

Routh, James. "Three Rules for the Comma," Januaiy, 1917 ; 
"Report of the Committee on the Economy of Time," 
February, 1919. 



THE PROBLEM OF SPELLING 

In the matters of spelling and form we must con- 
sistently require accuracy and refuse approximations; 
we must insist upon uniformity and conformity with 
the best usage. Here are points in which we must dis- 
courage individuahty ; here we may not allow the con- 
structive imagination of the child to have sway. 
Sureness of touch in the spelling of all words used by 
the pupils must be demanded. 



FUNDAMENTALS 57 

But the question is how to get ttiis sureness of 
touch? 

First of all, we must arouse in the pupil the desire 
for this sureness of touch. It would be pleasant in- 
deed if the pupil brought with him a genuine desire 
to spell correctly. But if he does not, we must set 
about creating this desire on the spot. One effective 
way of doing this is through an appeal to group pride. 
By working on the individual through the group of 
which he is a member much may be done to develop in 
the pupil a spelling conscience to which he must hold 
himself accountable because of his relation to the 
group, because of his responsibility in upholding 
standards of the group. This is the appeal made by 
a teacher describing his experiment in a recent Eng- 
lish Leaflet, and we have his testimony that it ac- 
complished results. He calls his device the "Spelling 
Team." I quote his account at length. 

'*Every teacher, now and then, has to meet and cope 
with a class of almost hopeless spellers. If those could 
only be caught in a perfectly wild state and taught 
their letters one at a time, it would be easier. But 
when they arrive at high school they do know some 
words already, and at others they are content to guess. 
The problem is to make every member of the class 
discontented with this guesswork. Select about fifty 
of the worst words ; terms like seize, siege, occasionally, 
necessary, disappear, irresistible, describe, persever- 
ance, and parallel. Give out the set, take the rating 
of each student, and assign the list for part of the 
next day's study. Announce the fact that the very 
same list will be written every day as an introduction 



58 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

to the regular recitation, until not one mistake is made 
by a single member of the group. As long as one 
student misspells one word, the entire class goes on and 
on forever spelling that same set of words. The score 
is announced on the spot, publicly. Under these con- 
ditions it becomes unpopular to guess. The class be- 
gins to take an appreciative pride in its star spellers, 
and to coach between times those few who always 
delay the wheels of progress. When at last these 
words are mastered by the whole team, the class is re- 
warded with an additional fifty. Sometimes another . 
section is studying the same lists of words with a spell- 
ing contest in view. Of course the only way in which 
this plan is different from regulation spelling lessons 
is the fact that the whole class is brought up to the 
level of the best before the list is considered learned at 
all. After this season of grinding toil, every boy feels 
keenly the difference between knowing a word and 
guessing at it, and the best spellers, upon whom this 
proceeding is almost an imposition, are the first to an- 
nounce that at last they are absolutely sure about the 
spelling of the slippery principles and principals, weird, 
and yield, and the various assortments of stationery." 

There is no doubt that our spelling tests have been 
too long. We have tried to teach too many words. 
Let us, as Professor Jones says, "cease to worry about 
the 3000 words and make a bloodthirsty attack upon 
the 300." Intensive work is the only work that counts 
in the teaching of spelling. Mr. Ward in his book, 
What Is English?, gives a most excellent exposition of 
this method. ("Intensive Spelling," Chap. III.) 

Often the spelling lessons should resolve themselves 



FUNDAMENTALS 59 

into dictionary work. The pupils should study in class 
with the teacher the Revised International Webster: 
its make-up; its contents; rules for pronunciation; 
derivations ; the biographical dictionary ; the gazetteer. 
Encourage the use of the dictionary. Always have 
words about which there is any doubt looked up at the 
moment of discussion, not later. 

Frequently it is very much worth while to test the 
pupil's knowledge of spelling by the dictation of short 
paragraphs, instead of by the isolated word list. In 
such a test the pupil comes to realize the close rela- 
tionship of spoken and written English and the use of 
knowing how to spell. Dictation exercises are of great 
value, also, in helping the pupil to master the sentence 
and the theory of punctuation. In all such exercises 
the pupil must be alert; he must give close attention 
and a ready response. Rollo Brown in his book, How 
the French Boy Learns to Write, tells us that dictation 
exercises play a very important part in the French boy's 
education, and are considered one of the best means 
of teaching accuracy and concentration. We could use 
this method in our schools to advantage far more than 
we do. 

It is possible to vitalize the spelling work by every 
now and then turning the spelling period into a period 
of classroom study of interesting words, their deriva- 
tion, original meaning, derived meanings, their syno- 
nyms, and antonyms. It is possible, indeed, in this 
way to get up a real interest in words from the point 
of view of their varying uses. They will all be inter- 
ested in a study of the pun, a play upon words, also 
in the different pictures allied words bring up. For 



60 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

instance: ask the pupils what pictures the following 
words bring to them: walked; strode; ambled; stalked; 
marched; or, another group: talked; conversed; dis- 
cussed; chatted; chattered; explained; debated. Ask 
them to suggest lists. They will be much interested 
in doing so. 

A very desirable way of finding out how to group the 
class by spelling ability is to try out the list of words 
to be assigned before they are studied. Then those 
who make no mistakes are not to have those words 
on their list for study. For as Mr. Sherwin Cody says 
in his 1007o Speller, ^Tt is dangerous to study con- 
sciously words of which the correct spelling is already 
habitual, since valuable unconscious mental habits are 
likely to be upset, and only wrong spelling will be 
learned. Much bad spelling is actually taught in 
school, which is an evil in itself, to say nothing of the 
inefficient waste of time." (p. 3.) The teaching of 
spelling is far too mechanical. The usual task as- 
signed pupils of writing, correctly, misspelled words 
twenty or thirty times has little value as a rule. The 
pupil writes automatically with his eye and mind any- 
where but on the subject. Unless the pupil is active 
instead of passive, the drill is useless. The misspelled 
word should always be corrected by the pupil, but the 
exercise might be varied by having the pupil bring in 
two or three sentences in which the word is correctly 
spelled, or the word may be written as many times as 
the pupil can find synonyms. The dictionary habit 
will do more than all else to weaken what Havelock 
Ellis calls "the creative vitality" our pupils show in 
spelling. Mere mechanical remedies for correction 



FUNDAMENTALS 61 

of misspelled words such as writing the word over 
many times often prove of no more value than in the 
case of the little boy who stayed after school to learn 
"I have gone." He wrote it forty times, then left 
this message for the teacher. "I have wrote this fort\ 
times and have went home." Finally, we should dis- 
tinguish between the reading vocabulary of the child 
and his practical vocabulary. Teach him to spell the 
new words he learns in his reading that he will prob- 
ably incorporate into his own vocabulary, written and 
spoken. These he must learn to spell. The others 
may be neglected for the time being. 

In the subject of spelling the pupil should by all 
means keep a stock-book. He should make a list of 
words formerly difficult but now mastered. He should 
also list his special weaknesses. And as soon as one of 
these enemies is conquered, he should transfer it to his 
stock-in-trade. Such lists conscientiously kept will aid 
greatly in solving the spelling problem for the in- 
dividual. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss Ward's treatment of the subject, "Intensive Spell- 
ing." 

2. Discuss the value of dictionary work in the spelling lesson. 

3. Suggest ways of impressing upon the student the necessity 
for correct spelling. 

4. In what ways may dictation exercises be made of value in 
the spelling lesson? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ayers, Leonard P. A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling, 
Russell Sage Foundation, 1915. 

Suzzallo, Heniy. The Teaching of Spelling. 

Ward, C. H. What Is English ? Chapter III, "Intensive Spell- 
ing." 

The Reorganization Bulletin, p. 167. 



62 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The English Journal: 

Clark, Hazel E. "From the Green Primer to the Brown/* 

February, 1916. 
Lester, J. A. "Teaching Freshmen to Spell," June, 1916. 
Lester, J. A. "Delimitation of the Spelling Problem," June, 

1917, 
Lester, J. A. "An Unfenced Corner of the Spelling Field," 

June, 1919. 
Parsons, E. W. "A Word on Spelling," December. 1917 

(R. T.). 
Ward, C. H. "A Bottomless Pond," May, 1916 (R. T.). 



THE PROBLEM OF THE VOCABULARY 

Someone has said that misunderstandings arise from 
three causes: (1) using the same word in different 
senses, (2) using different words in the same sense, and 
(3) using words with no sense. If we classify our 
pupils on this basis, we may rest assured that we shall 
always have the last class with us, just as in life they 
are ubiquitous. We can, however, give some training 
to develop in our pupils a feeling for words and a sense 
of responsibility for their use, and thus lessen the num- 
bers in classes one and two. How shall we develop in 
our pupils this feeling for words? In some way we 
must make them realize that words are living things, 
each with its own personality, each having its own 
function. Every child should know something of the 
history of his language. This he can get in a general 
way from the introductory accounts in the dictionary. 
The teacher may supplement what he finds there by 
giving specific examples of the interesting things that 
have happened to words in the course of their lives, 
and thus impress the pupil with the dynamic character 
of language. Words and Their Ways in English 
Speech, by Greenough and Kittredge, and Modern 



FUNDAMENTALS 63 

English, by George Philip Krapp, afford many ex- 
amples of the way in which language has developed, 
and the strange vicissitudes through which many 
words have passed. In connection with the history 
of the language there is, of course, the opportunity for 
the study of the derivation of words. This matter of 
etymology is not one to be handled carelessly. There 
is a great deal of false etymology resulting from super- 
ficial analysis of words. Even Ruskin did not escape 
this pitfall, when he derived 'Svife" from ''weaver" and 
drew many sentimental conclusions from an etymology 
which is absolutely false. 

The relation of the study of etymology to the forma- 
tion of vocabulary is well stated by Dr. Krapp. ''Since 
the English vocabulary is derived from so many differ- 
ent sources, it will be readily seen that the study of 
etymology, which is the study of the origin and history 
of words, is one of peculiar interest to those w^hose 
native speech is English. It is not always, nor indeed 
generally, necessary to know the etymology of a word in 
order to use it correctly. Words mean today exactly 
the ideas which they convey from one person to an- 
other, and any forcible attempt to make their present 
use conform to their etymological meaning is pedantic 

and vain Nevertheless, as one's knowledge of 

the history and origin of one's vocabulary increases, in 
the same degree one's use of words will grow in defiiiite- 
ness and certainty of meaning and in richness of con- 
tent." Impress the pupils with the importance of 
shades of meaning. These will often stand out more 
clearly if the history is known. 

But it is usage after all that is most important. Too 



64 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

much of our work in vocabulary has been theoretical 
rather than practical. It is, of course, desirable for 
the pupil to understand what constitutes good usage, 
but it is not enough that he shall recite glibly the mean- 
ing in national, reputable, and present use. He should 
be constantly in the business of enlarging and enriching 
his own vocabulary. His attention should be called to 
his usage of the words he finds in his own reading, the 
conversation of others, the lectures he hears, and the 
textbooks that he studies, rather than to the correction 
of selected lists of improprieties, barbarisms, and 
solecisms that he may never be guilty of. The work 
should be constructive, not negative. Instead of learn- 
ing that technical words are not in good use in ordinary 
speech, he should learn from his other subjects just 
when and how^ to use technical words properly. 

Drill on definitions, definitions that define. Play 
games in which the same word is used in various ways. 
Make lists of words that function as different parts of 
speech, as noun and verb, for instance. Interest the 
pupil in synonyms. Encourage him to keep lists of 
the new words he discovers in his readings. Let him 
become intimate wuth the dictionary; let him discover 
its shortcomings as well as its usefulness. It is not 
perhaps necessary that he should emulate Robert 
Browning who, it has been said, read and digested 
Johnson's English Dictionary as soon as he had defi- 
nitely decided to enter upon a life devoted to litera- 
ture. Systematic study of the dictionary may, how- 
ever, be of great value. A pupil may learn from 
its study, for one thing, that the fact that a word ap- 
pears in the dictionary does not necessarily justify his 



FUNDAMENTALS 65 

use of it. It may be marked "obsolete," or "collo- 
quial/' or "local," or "vulgar," and these terms will 
guide him when he is in doubt. The dictionary should 
be a constant friend in the recitation period. Do not 
postpone the disputed meaning until the next day. 
Let the pupil turn at once to the dictionary and make 
a report then and there to the class of what he finds. 
Words are interesting, and pupils will readily dis- 
cover this fact if led to the study of words in a dynamic 
way. List new words that have come into the language 
because of the war and because of recent inventions. 
Have word matches based on these ideas. Let pupils 
once really feel the vitality of words, and all will be 
clear sailing. Discourage the use of "words, words, 
words." Encourage the use of the right word in the 
right place. Nothing will combat the pupil's use of 
slang or his use of one word to express a thousand 
meanings like this direct attack upon his vocabulary. 
It is because the pupil's word-hoard is so meager that 
he indulges so freely in slang. "Avoid slang" is of 
no pedagogic value unless the student is shown where- 
in he may express the same ideas with equal force. 
Slang is a weed that must be eliminated, but we must 
not leave the pupil speechless. Flowers must be 
planted and grown in his garden of expression to take 
the place of the weeds which grow only too readily. 
Show him that slang is due largely to his paucity of 
language and partly to the tendency of the modern 
American to clip his words by way of making short 
cuts. Impress boys and girls with the fact that it pays 
to give time and thought to expression. Lack of 
thought results in the indiscriminate use of nice, grand, 



66 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

awful, etc. Hurry accounts for ''Doc," ''gym," 
"exam," etc. Slang that is drawn from associations 
that are low and vulgar is more easily combated than 
the types mentioned. Slang which is the spontaneous 
expression of some forceful comparison may be dealt 
with leniently, for ''language is fossil poetry," and 
many an expression which was once considered slang 
has acquired a permanent foothold in good society. 

To speak of "growing flowers" in the pupil's vocabu- 
lary is perhaps an unfortunate expression. It brings 
to mind another enemy of good expression that is due 
largely to affectation and insincerity, "fine writing" — 
the use of too many words. We are all familiar with 
the padded composition, the composition that is 
evidently not an effort to express something but an 
effort to impress someone, usually the teacher. Bar- 
rett Wendell says of freshman college themes, "On 
an average, I venture to assert, one-half of the words 
in any such composition can be stricken out without 
the loss of a shade of meaning. What is more, the 
process of excision is apt to result in a surprisingly 
idiomatic precision of style." In developing a wide 
vocabulary we should therefore guard against this 
danger of encouraging a kind of insincere and euphuis- 
tic English. Striving for the big word is another re- 
sult of affectation as well as attempting to use too 
many words. In that connection, simplicity is the 
ideal. Dr. Krapp sums it up in this way, "Never use 
a long word when a shorter one will do as well." 

Arouse in the pupil the desire to increase his 
vocabulary. Let him go about the acquisition of new 
words deliberately and consciously. And let him 



FUNDAMENTALS t)7 

make use of his new words in his written work and 
oral speech. The only test of vocabulary is in the oral 
and written use of words. Too often we are apt to 
measure the extent of our own vocabularies by what 
we read, feeling that we possess the author's vocabu- 
lary because we understand his meaning. While wide 
reading is most certainly one of the best and surest 
means of enlarging the vocabulary, it remains for prac- 
tice in expression to turn that reading into real use, 
and to prove whether or not we have an army of 
words that w^ill leap to our bidding when we need 
them. Otherwise the greatest of bookworms may be 
the least articulate of speech. ''Giving the meaning" 
of unfamiliar words in the text, in response to the 
teacher's question, is not helping the pupil to enlarge 
his vocabulary. Active and specific drill in the busi- 
ness of forming a vocabulary must be carried on. Let 
the pupil select new words from his reading and de- 
liberately practice them in use. No attempt should 
be made to have the pupil acquire all the new words 
that he meets. Instead, he should aim to fix a few 
words at a time, and those of course should be se- 
lected that he can use naturally — words that are not 
outside of his experience. Just here nothing could be 
more stimulating than the reading of Professor 
Palmer's Self -Cultivation in English, and of parts of 
Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies. We all know that the 
effective use of words comes only through the intelli- 
gent appreciation of words. And while we cannot be- 
stow upon the pupil the gift of the ''right w^ord," we 
can develop in him a feeling for words, a genuine word 
sense. 



68 ENGLISH PROBLE 

The importance of word use can be brought home to 
the pupils in the high school through their work in 
debate. Here, better than anywhere else, will it be 
possible for the pupil to realize the importance of care- 
ful, accurate definition and exact use of words. No 
more important study in the whole English course 
can be found than the careful analysis of ''terms" in a 
proposition for debate. Often the analysis develops 
the point that opponents are in accord and that there 
is no room for argument. Think how much time and 
energy in later life will be saved if the pupil in his 
school days acquires the habit of close analysis of 
words and accurate use of the mother tongue. The 
effects are far-reaching and oftentimes extend to vital 
things. 

Words are but names. If it is true, as has been said, 
that the junior high school is the place par excellence 
for the teaching of narrative, here indeed is an op- 
portunity for enriching the vocabulary. The pupil 
is at home in the field of action ; he is at the age when 
he delights to do things, and still more to read and to 
see in the moving picture-play rapid-fire action. But 
when he comes to give his account of the story he has 
read, the "movie" he has seen, or the adventure he has 
participated in, how small is his stock of verbs and 
how colorless! Here is the chance to let him learn the 
names of many kinds of action not to be fully de- 
scribed by went and did and saw. Interest him in the 
naming of actions through the use of a variety of verbs. 
He will find that it will take more than his usual 
vocabulary to characterize all the movements of a 
Douglas Fairbanks. He is at the age when his natural 



FUNDAMENTALS 09 

curiosity as to the names of things is still keen. ''What 
is it?" is the question he asks, and a name satisfies. 
Interest him in the naming of colors and shapes 
through the use of a variety of adjectives, and when 
he comes to the senior high school, he may apply that 
same interest in the identification of ideas. 

The development of a clear, adequate, and forceful 
vocabulary has a very definite connection with the 
''Better Speech Movement." Although this nation- 
wide movement for better speech is largely directed 
toward better enunciation, better pronunciation, and 
the elimination of gross grammatical errors, it has also 
for one of its aims the elimination of slang. Then, too, 
the relation of vocabulary work to reading and oral 
recitation must be constantly borne in mind. Lee 
Bassett in his Handbook of Oral Reading says, "The 
monotonous and 'sing-song' reading so often heard in 
the classroom and elsewhere is due largely to this 
heavy-eyed glimpsing and perfunctory voicing of 
words without definite knowledge of what they 
mean." 

The connection between constructive vocabulary 

work and spelling is obvious. // the spelling of each 

new word with its pronunciation could be fixed at the 

time of learning the new word, there would be no 

spelling problem. _ .. _ ^^ 

Emily F. Sleman 

FOR FURTHER TPIOUGHT 

1. How will you present the principle suggested by the expres- 
sion, "A word is Iniown by tlie company it keeps'' ? 

2. Why should we distinguish betsveen the reading and the 
speaking vocabulary of the pupil? 



70 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

3. Suggest some devices for stimulating an interest in the 
adding of new words to the vocabulary. 

4. Discuss the value of dictation as a means of increasing the 
vocabulary. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Greenough and Kittredge. Words and Their Ways in English 

Speech. 
Krapp, Philip. Modern English^ Its Growth and Present Use. 
Lewis, W. D. Knowing and Using Words. 
Palmer, G. H. Self-CuUivation in English. 
Ruskin, J. Sesame and Lilies. 
The English Journal: 

Dobie, Frank. "Words, Words, Words, My Lord." 
January, 1919, 



CHAPTER THREE 

ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 
The Problem of Better Speech. The Problem of Written Work. 
The Problem of the Letter. The Problem of Theme Correct- 
ing. Measurement of Results. 

THE PROBLEM OF BETTER SPEECH 

/. Oral English 

In viewing the subject of teaching Enghsh compo- 
sition let us look first at oral English. This is the 
natural order, for long before we have written language, 
we have oral speech; long before we have a written 
literature we have the bard, the scop, the gleeman, 
carrying the legend and song of the heroes of camp 
and field from court to court, and passing down the 
story by word of mouth from generation to generation. 
Moreover, the pupil today is called upon to talk far 
oftener than he is called upon to write. Says Mr. 
Clarence Stratton, Chairman of the Committee on 
American Speech of the National Council of Teachers 
of English: "The most ordinary relations of life de- 
mand speech. Dozens of careers depend upon language 
use. Responsibility and ability come with mastery of 
speaking. The teacher's product is examined, tested, 
judged, by every word that comes from the lips of 
every student." First of all, then, we should attend to 
the speech of our children. 

It is generally agreed that the study of oral Eng- 
lish should develop power in the pupil (1) to answer 
questions accurately; (2) to converse agreeably; (3) 

71 



72 



ENGLISH PROBLEMS 



to present a case; (4) to read aloud intelligently and 
intelligibly. To produce these results, oral English 
should be presented under two aspects: (1) the 
mechanics of speech; (2) the practice of speech. 

For several years we have all been reading much and 
learning much about the American voice. Already, 
attempts are being made in the schools for definite 
training of the voice. This training should start in 
the very first grade, where, of course, it should be in- 
formal, but it should be organized into a definite course 
by the time the pupil reaches the junior high school, 
where through correlation with other departments of 
study much may be done. 

In the mechanics of speech both the junior and the 
senior high-school teacher should attend to the fol- 
lowing : 

(In these two points the Eng- 
lish teacher should co- 
operate with the physical 
training department.) 
(Correlate here with the 

music department.) 
(Correlation with the physical 

training department.) 
(Definite drill on run-together 
words such as would have, 
by and by; and word end- 
ings such as ing, ed, t.) 
(Persistent practice on words 
commonly mispronounced 
— such as drowned, at- 
tacked, length, height.) 



1. Posture 

2. Breathing 



3. Vocalization 



4. Articulation 



5. Enunciation 



6. Pronunciation 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 73 

Not until we have voice work in the school curriculum 
can we hope for any perceptible improvement in our 
much berated American speech. Hear what Adjutant 
General McCain has to say on the subject in relation 
to the failure of students in the training camps to 
qualify for the Officers Reserve. 

"A great number of men have failed at camp because 
of inability to articulate clearly. ]\iany men disquali- 
fied by this handicap might have become officers under 
their country's flag had they been properly trained in 
school and college . . . It is hoped, therefore, that 
more emphasis will be placed upon the basic principles 
of elocution in the training of our youth. Great im- 
provement could be wrought by instructors in our 
schools and colleges, regardless of the subject, insisting 
that all answers be given in a loud, clear, well-rounded 
voice, which, of course, necessitates the opening of the 
mouth and free movement of the lips." 

Let us follow this wholesome advice and give definite 
work in training the speech of our pupils. 

In the matter of Practice we may consider oral Eng- 
lish under the following heads: 
1. The question and answer. 

^ 2. The informal talk. 

3. The special topic report. 

4. The debate. 

5. Oral reading. 

6. Recitation of memorized passages, prose and 

poetry. 

7. Dramatics. 

In every year of both junior and senior high school 
there should be practice of the character indicated by 



74 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

each one of these heads, the emphasis varying with 
the maturity of the student. 

Back of the power of adequate expression is the 
power of thinking. Thought should control all ex- 
pression. The expression must be made to fit the 
thought. The pupil must be trained to speak with his 
mind on the subject. Perhaps the most striking 
example of the weakness of our pupils in concentration 
is shown by their inability to ask intelligent questions 
and to give accurate answers. I quote again from the 
Adjutant General's letter: ''Many men have not been 
trained to appreciate the importance of accuracy in 
thinking. Too many schools are satisfied with an ap- 
proximate answer to questions. Little or no incentive 
is given increased mental effort to coordinate one's 
ideas and present them clearly and unequivocally." 
Here, at last, is a point of departure for cooperative 
work in all departments of study in the high school. 
Here, at least, all teachers can get together and agree 
to demand exact, and to refuse approximate, answers 
to questions. We teachers are ever too ready to help 
a pupil out, to repeat and expand the pupil's answer, 
to do the work for him. Let us insist that before a 
pupil speaks he must think out what he is going to 
say. A discussion that gets anywhere presupposes 
thought clothed respectably at least. An intelligent 
question presupposes exact knowledge of what the 
questioner wants to say. Much practice should be 
given pupils in asking questions about the subject 
under discussion in a recitation period. Let us not be 
satisfied until the pupil has made his question perfectly 
clear, and we will find that the teacher's standard for 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 75 

the pupil has at last become the pupil's own. In the 
informal talk and special topic report, the question and 
answer may become a feature of class activity. 

A word or two now about these two aspects of oral 
English. 

How shall we keep our audience attentive, alert, 
active during the short talk or more formal report of 
special pupils? Let the speaker quiz the class as to 
points he has made; let members of the audience ask 
the speaker questions about certain things touched 
upon that were of particular interest or that were not 
understood. Establish this habit of cross-fire attack 
upon thought and the expression of thought, and the 
passive group of pupils so familiar to us all will become 
a diminishing quantity. Every pupil should be ready 
to come forward and speak to the class for a minute or 
two at any time. As a means of developing desire and 
ability to do this, informal talks should be assigned for 
preparation at home. These may be based on interest- 
ing facts read in the newspaper or magazine, happen- 
ings about the school or on the playground, experi- 
ments and processes performed and observed in the 
laboratory, the shop, or the work-room. Occasionally 
the lantern-slide talk prepared by a group of pupils 
is of interest to the class, and every little while the 
class may become a story-telling club. Let pupils 
preside and conduct the meeting and cast votes for the 
best stories. The best stories might be told to a larger 
group of pupils — in the assembly hall, perhaps. 

In the upper years of the senior high school the 
special topic becomes a feature of the English work. 
Every pupil in the class is to do library work at the 



76 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

school library or at the public library, the same to take 
shape in the form of an oral report or debate. The 
report or speech should never be read. It is well, how- 
ever, for the pupil to make use of outline notes made 
on small cards which are held in the hand during the 
presentation of the speech. It is said that this is 
President Wilson's method of delivering his addresses. 
The topics and assignments should be announced early 
in the semester, and it is hardly wise to have a report 
given under two weeks from the date of assignment. 
The teacher should give the pupils specific references 
for the work and hold conferences with the pupils when 
necessary. 

Often the group method of treatment of the special 
topic works well. A group of pupils is given one topic 
to develop. A leader of the group is selected. He 
divides the subject and apportions the work and sets 
a time for report to the class. On special topic day 
the class may again become a club with a pupil as 
chairman, presiding. He is responsible for the program, 
conducts the meeting, presents the speakers, and leads 
the discussion. 

Pupils should prepare speeches for all occasions of 
school life, for the football supper, the baseball 
championship; for urging support of school interests, 
the school paper, the literary society, the debating club. 
It would be well for the teacher to read to the class 
some good after-dinner speeches, for instance, Mark 
Twain's ''New England Weather," and certain speeches 
of Depew. These are suggestive and will give the pupil 
a standard. Real occasions, if possible, should furnish 
the motive for the preparation of the speeches. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 77 

Class debates on topics of school or current interest 
should be held in every section, and every member 
should have a turn at this work. Let the class resolve 
itself into a debating society on these occasions with 
a pupil-chairman presiding. The chairman conducts 
the meeting, introduces the speakers, appoints judges, 
and recognizes speakers in the informal discussion of 
the question after the debate is over. 

Oral reading by the pupils should form a part of 
every English period whether it be labeled Composi- 
tion or Literature. Such reading should sometimes 
be sight reading but more often the reading of passages 
that have been prepared at home. The test of the read- 
ing should be the listening class. While one pupil is 
reading, the other pupils are listening, not following 
the page with the eye. Books should be closed, and 
the ear alone be used to test the reading. The follow- 
ing quotation from The English Leaflet for Novem- 
ber, 1914, emphasizes this point: 

^^'How shall we, as Dr. Snedden suggests, invent 
devices to teach the art of intelligent hearing? Since 
his manuscript went to press, one or two schemes have 
been tried, with just enough success to lure on the 
experimenter. A class was met with this challenge — 
Can you listen? Can you rely on yourself to register 
accurately? Can you compel an uninteresting speaker 
to be heard by you? Can you force the remarks of a 
wandering lecturer into orderly thought in your own 
mind? Are you capable of protracted listening? 
Prove it. 

'The preparation of the class for two days was con- 

1. The Enf/lish Leaflet (contributed), November, 1914. 



78 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

fined to written work in order that the recitation time 
might be given over to the listening test. Each mem- 
ber of the class selected a book from his own library, 
chose a page for reading aloud, and prepared a set of 
nine searching questions based on the details of the 
passage. These questions he asked after reading the 
page to the class. Rapid questioning, no raising of 
hands, brisk calling on the unwary, a stern demand for 
accuracy made the occasion one of shocking nervous 
tension but of revelation ! Listening was no quiescent 
state, but a constructive process. One period brought 
striking increase in alertness. Nine cruel questions be- 
fore you and no time to invent answers — who would 
doze? The oral reading improved; for a group that is 
going to be catechized insists on audible speech. A 
pedagogical 'We aren't hearing' cannot compare in 
effectiveness with the insistent demands from the rear. 
There was the wildest variety of selection, ranging 
from Roger Ascham and Sir Francis to Elbert Hub- 
bard and Booth Tarkington. 

'The only enduring worth of this experiment is its 
illuminating power. The line between effective and 
lazy listening is visibly if crudely drawn. With his 
limitations clearly defined and his spirit of conquest 
aroused, each student may consider the next sermon 
or lecture that he hears, not a leisured interim, but a 
challenge." 

The recitation of passages learned from selections 
studied is excellent practice. It is advisable to commit 
to memory prose as well as poetry. Speaking contests 
may occasionally be held. I was present at such a con- 
test held in an English class last year. The pupils 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 79 

had been studying President Wilson's war speeches, 
and at the end of their study they proposed to com- 
mit to memory a speech and dehver it. The best 
among the speakers were chosen to deliver their 
speeches on Flag^Day before the whole school. Much 
interest was evoked by the contest, and the work was 
as good as any I have ever heard in oral English. The 
pupils paid close attention to articulation, enunciation, 
word endings, voice production; and the practice thus 
gained was of inestimable value. The delivery of 
original speeches on Liberty Bonds and War Savings 
Stamps in this same way worked the same result. In- 
directly the War thus helped the cause of oral Eng- 
lish in the schools. 

Presentation of scenes from plays studied in the 
Literature class, and of original dramatizations of parts 
of stories read gives splendid practice in oral English. 
Because of the natural interest in '^acting out" situa- 
tions, results which fail to be precipitated from our 
best efforts in all other oral exercises are actually ob- 
tainable in this form of oral practice. 

Perhaps the most practical reason for stressing oral 
English in the composition course is that, in the words 
of Lord Bacon, conference maketh a ready man. 
Practice in speaking before his classmates is invaluable 
to the pupil both now and later on. It develops the 
ability to think quickly, and to express thought con- 
vincingly with poise and self-possession, while stand- 
ing and facing an audience. And in these days of the 
rule of democracy not many pupils after leaving school 
will escape the call to speak to their fellow-men. 
Should not preparation for such emergencies now be 
made in the secondary school? 



80 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Before closing this discussion, a troublesome de- 
tail in the oral English work should be mentioned. 
We are all confronted with the and habit. What shall 
we do to break up this habit? Induce the pupil to make 
a conscious effort to overcome this fault. Tell him 
to stop short a second or two whenever the tempta- 
tion comes. The over-use of the and in oral reports is 
really a time-seeking process. When the pupil does 
not know what to say next, he says and. If he will 
think before he speaks, much of his desire to use the 
word will disappear. , It is worth while, also, to have 
the pupil make a list of words that may be substituted 
for and, that may be used as bridges connecting his 
chain of thought. And then let the pupil make a 
conscious effort to substitute these new words for the 
old, familiar friend. If the pupil pursues this practice 
diligently, it will not be long before he will show some 
facility in the use of these "other" words. And after 
a while such usage will become unconscious and 
natural. This plan has been tried out successfully in 
more than one instance. 

Another detail. Shall we interrupt the pupil when 
he is ''speaking his speech"? The notion has long 
prevailed that interruption would embarrass the 
speaker, cause him to lose the thread of his thought, 
utterly destroy spontaneity. And there is something 
in this. But we must never lose sight of the main 
purpose of our stud}^ — progress in the art of speaking 
correctly. We dare not pass over errors. It is our 
business to teach. And so, at times, it may become 
necessary to interrupt with tact. And we must remem- 
ber that pupils are to learn something each day about 



ORAL AND WRTTTEX EXPRESSION 81 

correct speech. Attention must be called to errors. 
Correction must be made if the course is to lead to- 
ward our goal. Mere talking will get nowhere. Talk- 
ing to a purpose and with a purpose is a different 
story. 

//. Public Speaking 

Shall our high schools give courses in public speak- 
ing? Before that question can be answered it would 
be well to consider the purpose of speech-training in 
a public high school. What, at bottom, is the aim of 
such training? Is it not, after all, to give our pupils 
such command of their speaking ability that they can 
say what they want to say directly and effectively 
just when they want to say it? The basic aim then is 
to give power of free communication of thought 
through the medium of the organs of speech. What 
then will be first necessary, even to approximate such 
an end? Certainly, knowledge of how to use those 
organs effectively. Therefore, as before stated, some 
training in voice-making and using is essential. This 
need not be — it must not be — highly technical. But 
much practice should be given in tone-work and 
enunciation. Such work should be eminently practical. 
Remember that the power of speech is originally ac- 
quired through imitation. And just so, good oral Eng- 
lish must become a habit through imitation. Did not 
Hamlet say, "Speak the speech as I pronounced it to 
you, trippingly, on the tongue"? Imitation of a model 
is a way — one might almost say the way — of acquiring 
power in spoken English. And who is to be the model? 
The regular teacher of English or a special instructor? 



x 



82 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

There is, of course, much to be said on both sides, but 
the logic of the situation points to the regular teacher. 
For so, the teaching of English and the teaching of 
speech are not divorced. Do we dare risk a separa- 
tion? Not while we contend that the teaching of 
correct English by practice should be a part of the 
teaching of every subject in the curriculum. Sep- 
aration would easily weaken our case. Every high- 
school pupil should get definite, daily drill in the 
technic of speech. And all of us must be ever on 
guard to insist upon exact, not slovenly, mechanics 
in speech drill. Cooperation of every member of the 
teaching body on the one hand, and of the pupils on 
the other, is what we must strive for. Better Speech 
Week must become the Better Speech Daily. It must 
be issued every twenty-four hours, a Daily, not an 
Extra. The more often speech rallies can be held now, 
the better. For interest must not be spasmodic in this 
great aim of teaching English. Better speech must 
become habitual, automatic. When the Better Speech 
Week has become Better Speech, Day by Day, not the 
occasional but the usual proceeding, will not the teacher 
of every subject in the school curriculum suddenly 
realize that his burden is lessened by half? Will not 
every graduate of our high schools realize then that his 
chances of success, whether he enter college or the 
world, are increased fourfold? 

To teach our pupils to express themselves in good, 
clear, accurate English informally, in conversation with 
one another in the classroom and outside, is then the 
basic aim of an oral English course. A supplementary 
aim, as before stated, should be to give the pupil ex- 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 83 

perience in speaking before his fellows in the class- 
room and in the auditorium. Methods of oral English 
procedure in the classroom have already been dis- 
cussed. Some training there needs must be in adapting 
the voice-power of the pupil to the larger audience. 
But our present socialized recitations are fast eradicat- 
ing the timid or self-conscious individual. Such a 
specimen will soon be a rara avis among us. Hence no 
special work is necessary in this direction. All things 
considered, then, training in oral English is best left 
with the regular teacher of English. Far better is it, 
even if the teacher must perchance take a summer 
course in oral English, than to call for outside aid and 
thus weaken the stand of the English teacher and 
divorce the aims of the course. 



FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Suggest devices to teach tlie art of intelligent listening. 

2. Discuss the value of having* jjupils close their books while 
one of their number reads aloud to the class. 

3. Suggest ways and means of testing the listening class. 

4. Discuss voice training in the high school. Should the effort 
be to train for the impromptu occasion which will come into 
the Ufe of every pupil or for more formal speech or oration? 
How much technical voice training should be given high-school 
students'? Should the work be done in connection with the 
English class or independently? Should there be a director of 
public speaking? 

5. Discuss the use of the club idea as a means of socializing 
the English class. 

6. Discuss methods of socialization as suggested by Mr. Gaston 
in his article, "Social Procedure in the English Classroom," 
TJie English Journal, January, 1919. 

7. Refute the statements made by Mr. Gaston. 

8. Work out a Better Speech Week for your classes. 



S4 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Crumpton, C. E. The Problem of Better Speecli. Guide for 

American Speech Week. 
Lewis, C. H. American Speech. 
The English Journal: 

. Crumpton, Claudia E. "A NatioD-Wide Speecli Week," 

May, 1919. 
Drummond, Alex M. 'Tlays for the Time." Editorial, "The 
Speech Campaig-n," September, 1919. 
The Illinois Bulletin: 

Andrews, W. E. "A Study of the Oral Response in the 

High-School Classroom," Februaiy. 1919. 
Bear, Olive M. "Better Speech "Week in Decatur," Febru- 
ary, 1919. 
Paul, H. G. "Better Oral English," April, 1919. 
Rawlins, Cora M. "E very-day Problems in Spoken English," 

January, 1919. 
Stratton, Clarence M. "Speaking of Speech," March, 1919. 

THE PROBLEM OF WRITTEN WORK 

If, first of all, in a composition course we must watch 
the speech of our pupils, surely next, we must watch 
their written words. Written English should go hand 
in hand with oral. Much oral practice can but help 
the written work. By no means, however, should the 
written theme be worked over in class orally and then 
reduced to writing. Such a process is deadening. It 
will produce a stereotyped written product of no 
interest to anyone. But often the oral work may be- 
come the basis for the written work. It may suggest 
allied subjects. 

Now let us examine the why, the how, the what, and 
the where of written work in the high-school English 
course. 

Why should we ask students of composition to writo 
at all? The answer is obvious. To prepare them for 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 85 

the emergency which every now and then confronts 
them of bemg obhged to communicate their thoughts 
about a given subject to another person in writing. 
The instrument of such communication is usually the 
letter. Hence, letter-writing practice should form the 
major part of written composition work in the 
secondary schools. However, there are other occasions 
in the life of the pupil that call for written expression 
of thought, and there will be occasions later on. It is 
the duty of the English teacher to prepare the pupil 
for such occasions. The pupil is required by teachers 
of other subjects to write reports of work done from 
time to time, and to take examinations in those sub- 
jects. Prepare the boy and girl to meet this situation 
now, and they will be able to face other responsibili- 
ties later on as they meet them. For example: In 
the course of his school life the pupil will be asked 
to expound principles in mathematics and science; to 
explain processes in the laboratory, the shop, and the 
workroom; to give the story of a period in history or 
of a great man's life; to describe plants and animals 
in biology; to defend policies of governments past and 
present; to make idiomatic translations from a foreign 
tongue into English. They will be asked to answer 
questions in tests given in all their subjects of study. 
That is why the teacher of composition should see to it 
that the pupil learns to express himself in writing 
which shall be intelligent, discriminating, and correct, 
whether the thought to be expressed requires him to 
tell a story, to make a picture, to explain, or to con- 
vince. For what is language after all, but a tool? It 
is a means to an end. When we shall be able to con- 



86 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

vince the teachers in other departments in the high- 
school curriculum that the English composition course 
exists mainly for their sakes it will not be long before 
we shall have the whole-hearted cooperation of the 
entire school in working for improvement in the use 
of the mother tongue in both speech and writing. 
Last of all, the pupil should be asked to write because, 
in the words of Lord Bacon, "Writing maketh an exact 
man." No exercise is more helpful in developing ac- 
curacy than writing out one's thought. By all means, 
every little while let the pupil put his thought to the 
acid test of wTiting it out. As Mr. Hitchcock says, 
"Ink and white paper are fearful detectives which lay 
bare in ruthless fashion faults which escape notice 
altogether in the rose-tinted half-light of rapid conver- 
sation." Hence in the composition class pupils must 
write as well as talk. 

In this connection the revolutionary view Nicholas 
Murray Butler expressed in an address delivered before 
the Association of Preparatory Schools of the Middle 
States and Maryland in the fall of 1918 might be 
noted. He regards the daily theme as a plague of 
which w^e must rid ourselves and holds that English 
composition should be taught through reading rather 
than through writing. In reply one might ask a ques- 
tion or two. Is not writing an art? Has not every 
art its own technic? Can technic in any art be ac- 
quired except through practice? Will hearing the 
greatest musicians interpret the works of the masters 
make an artist of the hearer? 

The pupil writes, then, in order to communicate his 
thoughts to others, and the teacher of composition 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 87 

should give the pupil much practice in this method of 
thought communication. But he should 7iot ask the 
pupil to write unless he has something to communicate 
and someone to whom he wishes to express his thought. 
Only when the pupil feels that there is for his effort 
a real occasion, a real purpose, a real motive will he 
do his best. Thoughts, even the thoughts of a pupil 
in the English composition class, like any other com- 
modity must be produced for the purpose of consump- 
tion. There should be a consumer other than the fire 
or the w^aste-paper basket for the themes our pupils 
write. That consumer is the pupil's audience; that 
audience is naturally made up of his classmates. The 
class is the theme writer's reading public, as Mr. S. A. 
Leonard has so well said in The English Leaflet for 
April, 1918, The pupil should write for his audience, 
expecting a definite reaction from his audience. Then 
the work becomes dynamic and of real developing 
power. Occasionally, his audience may be enlarged, as 
when he writes for the school magazine or prepares a 
paper for the entertainment or instruction of the whole 
school in the assembly hall, or when the members of 
one section challenge those of another group to debate 
a given subject. 

Now hoiu shall we' give the pupil such command of 
the language as will enable him to use it accurately 
and even fluently in his written work in other classes 
and on other occasions than on the oft-dreaded one of 
theme day in the English class? Surely not by having 
his theme work in the composition class based wholly 
or even largely on topics suggested by other depart- 
ments of the school, though these are of value once in 



88 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

a while. How shall we develop the habit of clear, 
accurate written expression, so that the pupil's written 
reaction to a given situation shall be spontaneous, 
ready, easy, and correct? This can be accomplished 
only through a thorough vitalization of the subject of 
theme-writing, and this in turn can be accomplished 
only by intelligent motivation of subjects to which the 
pupils are asked to react in writing. 

What shall our pupils write about, then? It is a 
commonplace to say that subjects for themes should 
be chosen from the pupil's own experience, that the 
pupil should write about what he knows. We must 
expand the definition of experience, however, to em- 
brace imaginary, as well as real, experience. It should 
include the dream life as well as the real life of the 
child. 

But the selection of theme topics is not an easy job. 
As Mr. Suzzallo says, "The largest single problem with 
which the teacher has to deal today is that of getting 
adequate motivation into the composition period."^ 

A composition is never a re-statement of facts 
gleaned from hearing or reading. It is rather a re- 
compounding of these elements based on the ex- 
perience real or imagined of the pupil. It is a chemical 
union, not a mechanical mixture. Stories and poems 
may serve as points of departure. But they should be 
made to function in the life of the student. For 
example, after a pupil has read and enjoyed such a 
story as Stickeen, instead of asking him to tell the 
story in his own words, use the incident as a stimula- 
, . — — — — 

1. "Introduction" to English Composition As a Social Problem, 
Leonard. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 89 

tion of the pupil's constructive faculty. Let him write 
the story of some remarkable dog that he himself has 
owned, or let him make up a dog story based on an 
incident about which he has heard his father or other 
person talk. If the class is reading Chaucer's Prologue, 
let the assignment be a trip of up-to-date tourists to 
visit some point of interest in the pupil's own locality. 
For example, if the pupil lives in Washington, to Mt. 
Vernon; if he'lives in New York, to Grant's tomb, or 
up the Hudson to Tarrytown. When reading Addison 
and Steele, let the pupils write a Spectator Paper on 
some modern fad or foible. When studying Concilia- 
tion with America, introduce Burke to President 
Wilson in a Houseboat on the Styx and let them dis- 
cuss some topic of the day — and so on and on. 

School and class interests and happenings offer a 
fertile field for theme topics: the last football game 
or track meet; reasons for joining the dramatic associa- 
tion or debating club ; a report of the school assembly ; 
appeals for support of school enterprises, such as the 
school paper, the annual lunch, the spring play; reasons 
for the last defeat or winning the championship, etc. 

At other times it is well to use the community wel- 
fare motive in theme writing. Let the pupils write a 
paragraph on such topics as Vacant Lot Gardens, 
Cleaning Up the Alleys of Our City, Danger of Scatter- 
ing Papers After a Picnic, Necessity of Putting Out 
Campfires Before Breaking Camp. 

And where shall the writing of high-school themes be 
done? As a rule, in the classroom, under the eye of 
the teacher. This procedure, of course, necessitates 
short themes, but for secondary work the short unit 



90 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

will yield far better results than the long one. One 
advantage of class writing is that the teacher then is 
sure of 100% genuineness in the pupil's product — 
correction of errors in such cases deals with the pupil's 
own mistakes, not with those of his helpers. Only 
rarely in the upper classes should long themes be as- 
signed. 

Much practice on the sentence in relation should 
be given in the junior high school and in the first year 
of the senior high school. Indeed such practice should 
continue throughout the course. If our pupils go out 
from our high schools with a keenly developed sen- 
tence-sense they will be equipped with a powerful in- 
strument for explaining, persuading, and convincing 
others to think as they think in any of the social rela- 
tions of life, and they will have an effective weapon 
for the attack on social problems which is to be made 
in the language of the written brief or of the oral 
debate. Hence, in the language of aviation, they must 
be given thorough ground training before they are 
allowed the privilege of flight. 

For this ground training a good exercise is the ex- 
pansion of a topic sentence into a paragraph. This 
may be done sometimes as an impromptu exercise ; at 
other times it -may be prepared at home and worked 
out in class without notes. But it should be done often. 

This leads us to a consideration of two questions. 
How often shall pupils write? What shall we do with 
their themes? The answer to the first question de- 
pends upon the answer to the second. 

What shall we do with pupils' themes? They should 
be read aloud in class. The pupil understands that he 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 91 

is writing for an audience. His work is not complete, 
then, until he knows the reaction of his audience. The 
theme is produced for the consumer, and the legitimate 
consumer is the class, as before stated. Also, publicity 
is a powerful stimulus to- effort and ambition. Pub- 
licity and emulation will make for progress in theme 
writing. 

Reading aloud is a splendid test of the written prod- 
uct as to definiteness. Here is another reason why 
themes should be read to the class. A sentence that 
must be read twice (granting that the reading is intel- 
ligent) before its meaning is grasped needs reconstruc- 
tion. President Wilson tells us that the best training 
in English he ever had came from his father, to whom 
he read aloud everything he wrote up to the time of 
his death in 1903. He was intolerant of vagueness. 
His original way of giving advice on this point is well 
worth remembering. "Don't shoot at your meaning 
with bird shot and hit the whole country side; shoot 
with a rifle and hit the thing you have to say." That 
is exactly it. "Hit the thing you are going to say. 
Practice until your aim goes straight to the mark. Have 
in mind your mark." This we must urge our pupils to 
do. Hence the reading of themes is a vital matter. 

It will be impossible, of course, to correct every bit 
of writing that every pupil does. The teacher knows 
this, and he should frankly say so to the pupils. But 
if we follow the method of correction suggested later 
on, it is not necessary, indeed it is not advisable that 
every theme should pass under the teacher's eye. How- 
ever, the short paragraphs written in class should be 
read aloud — all of them. Five or six may then be 



92 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

selected for correction each day. This selection is 
usually made by the teacher ; at other times the teacher 
may allow the pupils the privilege of asking that their 
themes be chosen. Of course, the pupils are not to 
know beforehand whose themes are to be selected. The 
same boy's theme may be chosen on three consecutive 
days. Thus the pupils will be held up to their best 
effort and will not grow careless. 

Now, how often shall the pupils write? We all 
know that much practice makes the master. A 
technic in written or oral expression can be acquired 
only through constant drill as is the case in the study 
of music or art. It is through writing or speaking that 
we learn to write or speak, just as it is through play- 
ing or drawing that we learn to play or draw. What 
shall we say then? How often shall the pupil write? 
As often as possible. A little practice outside of school 
every day is advised. For this purpose the pupil might 
keep a school diary in which he records the events of 
the day in his classes, in assembly, at recess, on the 
way to and from school, at home. Of course, there 
must be occasional reading of Leaves from My Diary 
or the work will not function properly. 

But how often shall the pupil write for class con- 
sumption? As often as is compatible with social treat- 
ment of the product by class and teacher. This may 
be once a week or it may be oftener. In other words, 
an important factor in determining the frequency of 
written work is the number of pupils under the 
teacher's instruction. It goes without saying that an- 
other factor is the need of the individual for such 
practice. Certain members of a class always need more 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 93 

practice in writing than other members. Why not give 
them written w^ork oftener than their companions who 
need it less? This, it would seem, is the only common- 
sense method of procedure in the theme class. 

The composition classroom should become the 
language workshop, the laboratory for resolving 
thoughts into sentences and themes. Here pupils and 
teachers should work together, each for all and all for 
each. The teacher should be one of the group — partici- 
pating in all the activities even to the extent of occa- 
sionally contributing a theme. 

'Tf a particularly difficult moment arrives in any 
composition course," says Mr. Leonard, '^a sudden in- 
crease of interest will be gained if the teacher promises 
to have a theme written at the time when the rest are 
due, said theme to be shuffled with the rest and 
criticized among the others, incognito. Or, after read- 
ing a set, let the teacher announce the fact that among 
the essays just criticized was one of his own. Few 
things stimulate a group of students more powerfully 
than the consciousness that the teacher is still study- 
ing — a notion usually quite remote from their concep- 
tion of the functions of the instructor. In the under- 
graduate estimation, the teacher has learned, has writ- 
ten, has translated, and is now a director and inventor 
of toil, a corrector of sentence-structure, and an officer 
of the law. I shall never forget what a deep impres- 
sion was made once upon a time, when the teacher of 
our Vergil class read us a metrical translation of his 
own. He explained that since he had asked us to write 
one, he thought it only fair to get into the work him- 
self. It takes talent and courage and character to do 



94 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

that. As teachers, we hate to read our own writings to 
our classes, some of us because we never write, and 
the rest because we think that they will think that we 
think ourselves model literary workmen; which we 
must rise to explain that we aren't! But the fact 
remains that there is no more effective way to rouse a 
fine type of comradeship over the daily task than to 
do one, now an,d then, oneself." 

To sum up. The following points are to be noted 
in a consideration of theme writing in the secondary 
school : 

1. Themes should be written for the purpose of 

communicating thought. 

2. They should be written for a particular 

audience, usually the class. 

3. They should be read to the audience. 

4. They should be written with a definite aim. 

5. They should be intelligently motivated. 

6. They should be brief. 

7. They should usually be written in class. 

8. They should be written as often as is com- 

patible with intelligent treatment by the 
teacher and the social group for whom they 
are produced. 

9. They should be written more often by some 

members of the class than by others. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Show how the introduction of tlie ehib idea will vitalize 
the written work. 

2. Discuss the importance of the audience factor in assigning 
written work. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 95 

3. Discuss the short versus the long' theme for high-school 
classes. 

4. How can the composition class be socialized f 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Klapper, P. The Teach'mg of English, Chapter VIII. 
Leonard, Sterling' Andrus. English Composition As a Social 

Problem. 
Thomas, C. S. The Teaching of English in the Secondary School, 

(^hapter IV. 
Ward, C. H. What Is English? Chapter IX. 
The English Journal: 

Maiiin, H. 0. "Composition in the Open," February, 1917. 
McDonald, L. H. "Preparation for Assignment of Compo- 
sition Subjects," April, 1916. 
McDonald, L. H. "A Method in Assigning Theme Subjects," 

November, 1917. 
Parkinson, Laura D. "Variety in Composition Assignment," 

June, 1918. 
Scott, Frank W. "The Relation of Composition to the Rest 

of the Curriculum," October, 1918. 
Smith, M. E. "Those Long Themes," May, 1916. 
The English Leaflet: 

Haworth, I. M. "A Possible Outline for a Course in 

Freshman Composition," May, 1917. 
Jenness, Mary E. "Cooperative Fiction," December, 1916. 
Leonard, Arthur W. "Themes for a Reading Public," April, 

1918. 
Shute, Katherine H. "An Effort to Secure Sincerity in 

Composition," December, 1918. 
Ward, C. H. "Defending Camelot," October, 1916. 
The Illinois Bulletin: 

Fox, Fred Gates. "Keeping Alive in Composition," January, 
1919. 



THE PROBLEM OF THE LETTER 

Since the only real demand for writing in the life of 
the high-school student outside of school is in connec- 
tion with the writing of letters to friends and relatives. 



06 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

it is all important that his high-school English com- 
position course should help him to acquire in some 
small degree the art of letter writing. Letter writing 
is an art and should be so presented to the pupil. 
Hence the most intelligent as well as the most interest- 
ing point of departure in a letter-writing course is to 
read to the class a number of letters written by famous 
men and women: the letters of Lewis Carroll, Robert 
Louis Stevenson, Thomas Henry Huxley, Louisa M. 
Alcott, for example. After hearing these letters read 
and talking about them, the pupils may be asked to 
write letters of their own. 

The following points should be insisted upon: (1)' 
the letter should be interesting; (2) it should be 
courteous; (3) it should be adapted to the one to whom 
it is written. 

The purpose for which the friendly or social letter 
is written should be clearly impressed upon the pupils. 
They should understand that the friendly letter is 
written for the purpose of communicating with those 
who are not near at hand, in just the same way as 
if they were present. It takes the place of a call, a 
visit, or a social half hour. Hence the writer must 
make himself interesting and agreeable. He should 
write as if he were talking intimately with his friend. 
He should never give the impression that he is writing 
in a hurry, or from a sense of duty. Much of the com- 
position work may be thrown into the form of the 
letter. But never should the letter form be used as 
the mere framework of the exercise. Content as well 
as form must be adapted to the letter-idea. And it 
can be done and done acceptably. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 97 

We can formulate three types of the friendly letter 
which pupils should practice until they gain a measure 
of proficiency. First, there is the "Thank you," the 
'^Bread-and-Butter" type of letter; next, there is the 
''Story" letter; and then, the letter of directions, ex- 
planations, or excuse. 

The pupils should write letters and write them often. 
Perhaps in this way the habit of letter writing may be 
established, and the American youth may lose some 
of his inherited dislike for this method of communi- 
cating thought. As far as possible, real occasions 
should furnish the motives to letter writing. The 
pupil may write a letter to a friend out of town, in- 
viting him to the spring games, the school play, the 
inter-high-school debate. He must realize that it is 
his duty in such a letter to make the one to whom he 
is writing feel that the trip will be worth while. 

Again, he may write to a pupil who is out of school 
on account of illness, recounting school news that 
would interest the sick pupil. Many other events in 
the school life of the pupil may be made to serve the 
purpose of letter writing. 

Letters may also be written by members of one 
school to members of another school when there is 
anything of imiuediate interest which cannot be con- 
veniently communicated orally. They may be written 
by the school children of one city to the school children 
of another city. During the war _/iany letters were 
written by American boys and girls to the school 
children of France in reply to letters sent to them. In 
all such exercises, however, the desire of the pupil to 
write or not to write should be the determining factor. 



98 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Otherwise the letter will be valueless, both as a com- 
position exercise and as a social act. 

In letter-writing exercises, the imagination of the 
writer may be appealed to with advantage. And what- 
ever can develop the imagination of our boys and girls 
is of great educational worth. For instance, imperson- 
ating a character in the story or poem which the 
pupils are studying, and writing a letter to another 
person in the book, is an interesting adventure. And 
the marvel is that almost always the local color is 
consistently observed by the pupil. He lives in the 
times of his character, and the language he uses is the 
language of those times, quite naturally, just as a 
matter of course. Give the pupil a definite situation; 
let him see clearly with his mind's eye all the factors 
in the case; then test his reaction. For instance, ask 
the pupils to write a letter to a small boy, telling him 
about something that would interest him in a way 
that he will understand. The following is an illustra- 
tion of this method: 



1652 Park Road 
Washington, D. C. 

January 15, 1920 
Dear Harry, 

I know you will have a good laugh when you read what 
happened to us the other night. Mother had gone out, leaving 
Sis, Dan, and me alone. Dan undressed in the living room by 
the fire and went across the hall to go to bed. No sooner had 
he passed the door, than he gave a bloodcurdling scream and 
came back, looking as if he had seen a ghost. That was enough 
for Sis and me. We jumped up, got behind the table, and began 
to scream at the top of our lungs. As nobody came to our aid, 
I ran out into the yard and met the man who lives next door 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 99 

hurrying to us bareheaded, holding a big pistol in his. hand. 
Then we calmed down long enough to ask Dan what he had seen, 
and he tearfully informed us that there was a big black cat 
in the hall! 

Now wouldn't you like to know what poor Mr. Man-next-door 
thought? 

Lovingly, 

May 



Here are two good story letters written by school 
girls : 

* 114 Pennington Avenue 

Passaic, New Jersey 

February 15, 1920 

Dear Margery, 

They say I'm getting too old to play with dolls now, but I 
don't mind what anyone thinks, for I have seen the play 
"Raeketty-Packetty House," and it's wonderful ! Do you remem- 
ber how we used to pretend that our dolls would come to life 
at night when we were all asleep and have a good time just 
as we did? Well, Mrs. Burnett, the lady who wrote the play, 
must have done the same thing when she was a little girl, for do 
you know, every single doll in the play comes to life. 

But first I must begin at the very beginning and tell you all 
about the whole play. You see there was a little girl who had 
an old doll-house full of the loveliest, old-fashioned, ragged dolls 
in the world. But a great princess was coming to see her, and 
so the little girl's mother bought her a brand new doll-house with 
dolls in it all dressed up like kings and queens and lords and 
ladies. The little girl called her new toy "Tidy Castle," and 
the old one just "Racketty-Packetty House" because it was all 
falling to pieces. The little girl's nurse wanted to bum 
"Racketty-Packetty House" so that the princess would not see 



100 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

it. But a good fairy queen, whose name was Silverbell, hid 
it behind the door, and saved it from the nurse. 

The strange thing was that the princess found the shabby old 
doll-house and liked it much better than the brand new "Tidy 
Castle." 

When it was night, all the dolls came to life. I could fill 
sheets of paper telling you about their antics — ^how Peter Piper 
from "Racketty-Packetty House" fell in love with the beautiful 
Lady Patsy of "Tidy Castle"; how everybody in "Tidy Castle" 
got sick, and the "Racketty-Packetties" had to come over and 
put poultices on their heads till all the pain had gone; how 
haughty all the Castle dolls were except pretty Lady Patsy; and 
oh, a lot of other things about them! But everything came out 
all right with the help of Queen Silverbell and Peter Piper and 
Lady Patsy — but Margery, do go and see the play for yourself ! 

Your friend, 

Annette 



Washington, D. C. 

November 5, 1919 

Dear Anna, 

I do not want to write you anything else about Central High 
School; I suppose you are already tired of hearing me sing its 
praises. Let me tell you, then, about a little school of my very 
own. 

The sessions in this school are held twice a week at the home 
of my two little pupils, Jack and Sarah Clark. I teach them 
Russian and call them Vanya and Sara. Vanya is seven and 
a half years old and Sara is five. Now don't be surprised! 
Little tots as they are, they are learning to speak and even to 
read and write Russian, while I am learning to teach children. 

As I said, I am only learning to teach them, and I find it 
difficult. On the one hand, it is easier to teach a foreign 
language to children than to grown-ups, because they repeat the 
words and imitate the accent more readily. On the other hand, 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 101 

they are hard to deal with. I have to keep them constantly 
interested; otlierwise they simply refuse to learn anything. It 
would be absurd for me to give them a vocabulaiy to learn by 
heart, when they cannot sit still and study, read, or write for 
more than ten minutes. Therefore, I spend most of the lesson 
playing Russian games with them. 

Here, for instance, is one of our games: several objects are 
placed on the table, a pencil, a blotter, a toy Hallowe'en pumpkin, 
a shell. I name the things in Russian. Then Vanya and Sara 
shut their eyes, while I take away one object. When I have 
hidden it, they open their eyes and trj'- to name in Russian, as 
quickly as they can, the missing thing. If Sara names the thing 
first, it is her turn to hide something, tvhile Vanya and I close 
our ej^es. 

There is another game, which you must know, if you remember 
how we played in the Alexandrovsky Park, years ago. It is the 
game of King. Vanya sits down on the sofa, surrounds him- 
self with cushions, and folds his arms majestically. Sara and I 
go out in the next room where he cannot see us, and dance there. 
Then we present ourselves before the King with bows, and hold 
the following conversation in Russian : 

''Good day. King!" 

"Good day, children. Where have you been?" 

''In the parlor." 

"What were you doing?" 

We go through the motions of dancing. 

"You danced!" and His Majesty jumps up and rushes madly 
after us, amidst shrieks of laughter. If he catches Sara, she 
succeeds him to the throne; if he catches me, I am Queen. And 
so on. This game is the children's favorite, and it is useful, 
too, because it gives them opportunity to learn verbs which, in 
any language, are much harder to learn than other parts of 
speech. 

Tliey are bright little things, and seem to enjoy these lesson*. 
On the whole, my school is interesting, I think. Don't you, 
Anna? 

With love to Lucy and Bernard, I am 

Yours affectionately, 

Eugenia 



102 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

A correct form for heading, salutation, and com- 
plimentary close should be chosen by the class and 
should thereafter be adhered to. No letter should be 
accepted by the teacher which falls below 100% in the 
matter of form. 

A standard business form should also be adopted by 
all departments of the school and insisted upon in all 
business communications. In this case again 100% 
correctness only must be accepted. School interests 
may furnish the motivation for much business letter 
practice. For instance, correspondence with football, 
baseball, and basketball teams arranging dates and 
other details of games ; challenges sent to other schools 
for debate, and further correspondence concerning the 
question, the judges, the choice of sides, and other mat- 
ters. Such correspondence furnishes many occasions 
for practice. Wherever possible, let the pupils deal 
with real situations in their practice in business 
correspondence as well as social letter writing. 

By all means, in a letter-writing course let the pupil 
study the necessary postal instructions. He should 
understand the classification of mail matter into first 
class, second class, and third class; he should learn 
postal rates, domestic and foreign; he should know 
what countries belong to the Postal Union; he should 
understand the rural free delivery system; the parcel 
post. He should be given practice in the classroom in 
wrapping packages for mailing; he should learn how 
to address and stamp such packages; he should under- 
stand where he must place Christmas and Red Cross 
stamps. He should be impressed with the necessity 
of early mailing at Christmas time, All this knowl- 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 103 

edge he can find in pamphlets issued by the local 
post office department. These pamphlets may be had 
on demand. It is advised that every student in every 
high school possess himself of one of these. 

And finally, let us never forget that a letter-writing 
course is a failure unless it actually gives the pupil the 
habit of addressing all mail matter in a clear, legible 
hand, with absolute accuracy in the matter of the 
address of both sender and receiver. Twelve million 
pieces of mail went to the Dead Letter Office during 
the year 1915 because of errors of the public. Let us 
do our bit in reducing this number. Let us help to 
educate the public in this respect. Then, indeed, we 
can feel that our letter-writing course has not been 
in vain. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss the relative amount of time that should be devoted 
to letter writing in the high-school composition class. 

2. Discuss ways and means of vitalizing the study of letter 
writing. 

3. Discuss the part that accuracy plays in a course in letter 
writing. 

4. Make a list of postal regulations that should be taught in 
such a course. 

5. Enumerate the essential facts that should be taught about 
mailing packages. 

6. How can practice in letter writing grow out of the study of 
literature ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Dye, C. Letters and Letter Writing. 

Goldwasser, I. E. Method and Methods in the Teaching of 
English (Chapter on Letters). 



104 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The English Journal : 

Aydelotte, Frank. "By Means of Letters," March, 1917. 

Bidwell, Alice T. "A Course in Letter Writing," Novem- 
ber, 1913. 

Bridgman, Walter R. "A Competition in Letter Writing," 
December, 1913. 

Clapp, J. M. "The Better Business Letters Movement," 
April, 1918. 

Phillips, M. A. "Real Business Correspondence," February, 
1918. 

Piatt, Frank R. "An Inter-Class Letter- Writing Contest," 
R. T., October, 1914. 

"Report of the Committee on the Economy of Time," Feb- 
ruary, 1919. 

Harper's Magazine: 

Eitel, E. H. "A Poet and His Child Friends," December, 
1917. "A Poet's Letters to Children" (J. W. Riley), 
May, 1918. 

Collections of Letters : 

Benham, A. R. Specimen Letters. 
Briggs, T. H. A Laboratory Mammal of Letters. 
Center, S. S. Selected Letters. 
V^Cook, G. S. Specimen Letters. 
Coult, M. Letters from Many Pens. 
Dye, C. Letters and Letter Writing. 
Feuss, C. M. Selected English Letters. 
Greenlaw, E. Familiar Letters. 
Roosevelt, T. R. Letters to His Children. 



THE PROBLEM OF THEME CORRECTING 

Pupil-responsibility is the keynote to the effective 
correction of written work. As before suggested, the 
pupil should take stock of his assets from time to time. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 105 

In his stock-book he should keep a list of points he has 
learned; he should also keep a list of his habitual 
mistakes. Let him acquire the habit of consulting both 
of these lists before preparing any exercise. Hold 
him strictly accountable for what he has learned, and 
encourage him to make heroic efforts to reduce the 
list of his peculiar misusages. The pupil's paper when 
passed in should be correct as far as his study has gone. 
All careless mistakes are to be discovered and corrected 
by the pupil before he turns in his paper. Hence he 
should always be allowed time for careful re-reading 
or rather proof-reading of his theme before passing 
it in. Mistakes are often thus discovered and 
remedied. In the event of any careless errors in 
spelling, grammar, or sentence structure appearing in 
the finished product, let them remain untouched by 
the teacher, who promptly returns the paper. It is 
then the pupil's business to discover and correct such 
errors immediately. Only when he realizes that we 
are thoroughly in earnest about holding him re- 
sponsible will he become active in the elimination of 
his faults. Carelessness must not be tolerated. A 
serious attitude toward his work must be demanded by 
the teacher. And we teachers must stop doing the 
pupil's work for him. 

The practice of giving every theme two marks, one 
for form and one for content or matter, has been found 
productive of results. This is especially true if the 
pupil is held to 100% in form before the theme as a 
whole is rated satisfactory. By ^'form," of course, is 
meant the observance of those formal principles of 



106 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

writing which the pupil, under his own statement in 
his stock-book, is bound to respect. 

Until we insist on more than an approximation of 
the correct form we may not hope to develop in our 
pupils that feeling for accuracy which is so important 
a part of the modern man's equipment. What we in- 
sist upon getting from our pupils we will get. 

Now and then class criticism of themes is profitable. 
A theme-correcting day is set. As many papers as 
possible are read and discussed by the class, the 
criticism being led and supervised by the teacher. 
Those pupils whose papers are corrected in class are 
checked off the teacher's notebook. On the next cor- 
responding day another group of pupils comes under 
class criticism, and so on until the work of each pupil 
is discussed in class. 

But the conference method of correction is by far 
the most effective of all. One conference period with 
a pupil about his work is worth twenty red-inked or 
blue-penciled themes returned to him. The confer- 
ence period is indeed an integral part of the composi- 
tion course. Hence, conference days should be held 
every little while. Of course, in a large class it is im- 
possible to see everyone during a conference period. 
But a substitute is suggested. Divide the class into 
groups; appoint the brighter pupils as teacher assist- 
ants. Let them go over the work of the slower pupils 
with the pupils, bringing, of course, any debated point 
to headquarters for settlement. 

The conference, in some form, is the only method of 
theme correcting that really makes an impression, that 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 107 

is really worth while; it establishes the right relation 
between pupil and teacher. The pupil feels that he is 
an individual to the teacher, that the teacher knows 
him from his fellows. His good points are appre- 
ciated and his failings pointed out. The human touch, 
possible only under the conference system, clothes the 
subject with new interest for the pupil and incites him 
to greater effort. 

An interesting form of the conference method of 
correcting themes has been adopted by the University 
High School in Madison, Wisconsin. Themes are cor- 
rected entirely by means of the individual conference. 
The teacher waits until he has collected from four to 
six themes of a certain individual. Then he goes over 
these carefully, noticing especially habitual misusages. 
On his record sheets he enters the peculiar failings of 
this pupil; then he calls him for the conference. The 
pupil is shown his papers and, where possible, is led to 
discover his errors. He is told in what respects he needs 
to watch himself and is then sent away to correct his 
errors. He is instructed to bring a short but exact 
report of the conference at his next summons. If at 
the next conference the pupil repeats the same mis- 
takes, the teacher refuses to correct the theme. In- 
stead, he returns the work for re-writing. The danger 
of this scheme is that the pupil may lose interest in 
his theme before the conference period is called. The 
sooner the paper is discussed after it has been written 
the greater will be the good derived from the con- 
ference. 



108 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Compare the "red ink" method of correcting themes with 
the personal conference. 

2. Discuss prevision versus revision in pupils' theme work. 

3. Give arguments for and against pupil correction of themes. 

4. When is cooperative work by the class of most value in 
theme correcting? 

5. Devise a group system of theme correcting. 

6. How far should the teacher go in indicating errors in the 
written Avork handed in? 

7. Discuss the value of having the pupil proof-read his theme 
before handing it in. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Thorndike, E. L. Education, A First Book, pages 214-219. 

The English Journal: 

Cope, Pauline. "A Second Experiment in Correcting Eng- 
lish," February, 1916. 

Cross, Allen. "Weighing the Scales" (A summary of the 
various methods), Vol. VI, p. 183, March, 1917. 

Cutler, F. W. "More Uses of the Conference," Round Table, 
November, 1916. 

Leonard, S. A. "Correction and Criticism of Composition 
Work," November, 1916. 

McCarty, Lucy S. "The Game of Correct English," Febru- 
ary, 1919. 

Orr, C. I. "A Revolt and Its Consecfuences," November, 
1914. 

Pafford, Hai-vey E. "Grading Composition," Round Table, 
April, 1916. 

Routh, James. "A Method of Grading English Composi- 
tion," May, 1916. 

Thompson, Stitli. "Notebook System of Tlieme Correction," 
January, 1917. 

Walker, Francis I. "The Laboratoi-y System in English," 
September, 1917. 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 100 

The English Leaflet: 

Hitchcock, Alfred M. "A Composition on Red Ink" (Re- 
printed from No. 72), Maj^ 1919. 



MEASUREMENT OF RESULTS 

This is the age of scientific method, the age of exact 
measurement, and this method is being tried out in 
education as well as in other fields. The attempt is 
being made to establish a fixed standard of measure- 
ment in the matter of English themes, and then to 
apply the measurement to pupils' products. This has 
been done in a number of experiments. Various scales 
have been used for weighing and considering pupils' 
work. But the fact remains that not yet has there 
been found a satisfactorily uniform standard. And the 
reason lies in the nature of the case. Appreciation of 
another's thought is an entirely individual matter. No 
two estimates will ever be exactly the same on the 
same theme. . Literature, even that produced by our 
girls and boys, is an art product, and must be judged 
by the canons of art. We can, however, agree upon 
erecting a standard for certain points, and we can in- 
sist that that standard should be 100% correct and 
allow of no variation. Pupils should be taught essen- 
tials; they should be held responsible for a few things 
at a time, but they should be held responsible for 
100% correctness in those things. 

Mark each composition on two points, form and 
content. If we demand that the form shall be per- 
fect, we shall get perfect form. For what we con- 



110 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

sistently and persistently demand of our pupils, that 
we get. As to content, there must be intelligent 
thought behind the phrase, or the phrase, be it ever so 
neat, is worthless. The pupil must become habituated 
to the idea that thought controls structure and that 
the structure must be judged by the thought-com- 
pelling expression in just the way given. A fine fitness 
must be felt by the writer and the reader alike be- 
tween the thought and its expression. This would 
do much to rid us of the fine frenzy we so often find" 
between the two. The standard for form should be 
correctness in the mechanics of expression, spelling, 
grammar, idiom; the standard for the content should 
be good judgment and pure taste in fitting the word to 
the thought. With these aims in view, is it not pos- 
sible to establish a standard of measurement which 
will be satisfactory alike to writer and reader and 
which will make possible greater uniformity in the 
judgment of various readers of the same theme? 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT • 

1. Give Miss Parker^s argument on the subject of measuring 
composition work. 

2. Give Mr. Courtis's defense of the scheme. 

3. "VMiat is Mr. Ward's contention? 

4. What is your own conviction ? 

(For discussion of these topics, see Bibliography below.) 



ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION 111 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The English Journal: 

Courtis, S. A. "The Uses of the Hillegas Scale," April, 1919. 
(Answer to Miss Parker, below.) A measure of admin- 
istrative work, not of teaching. Sizing up of one's own 
efforts compared with others. 

Gunther, Charles. "My Experience with the Hillegas Scale," 
November, 1919. 

Parker, Flora E. "The Value of Measurements," April, 1919. 

Ward, C. H. "The Scale Illusion," Vol. VI, p. 221. 

Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, New York City: 

Trabue, M. R. "Supplementing the Hillegas Scale for Eng- 
lish Composition." 



CHAPTER FOUR 

INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 

The Choice of Literature. The Teaching of Literature. The 
Problem of Reading. Imitation a Means of Appreciation. 
Dramatization a Means of Appreciation. 

THE CHOICE OF LITERATURE 

What are the factors that are to be considered in 
choosing books for junior and senior high-school study 
and reading? The problem is a psychological one. 
It is all-important that we catch the interest of the 
student at the beginning of his course in literature, 
for only through interest shall we be able to establish 
the reading habit which is so essential an asset in the 
life of the pupil after a little while, and which will 
help him to use, not misuse, his leisure moments now 
as they come into his life from day to day. The 
psychology of the high-school student then must be 
understood by the planner of a literature course. 
First, the desires of the student must be studied; his 
natural bent must be discovered. Next, the question of 
interest must be considered. Has the book the power 
to rouse the interest in the pupil at his particular stage 
of development? 

Content or subject matter is of paramount im- 
portance — more so than literary style in the begin- 
ning. Does the content appeal to the student? Is it 
within his range of experience? Or can it function 
vicariously in the life of the student? 

112 



IXTEKPKETATION OF LITERATURE 113 

Test the book next for its human element. The boy 
or girl of this age demands the genuine human touch 
in what he or she reads. 

These are the points to be considered in the litera- 
ture through which we make our approach, the books 
which are to serve as our point of departure. 

Then we must w^eigh the character needs and the 
culture needs of our students and select with these 
needs in mind. While we may use the pupil's desire 
as a point of attack, we should certainly lead up to the 
study of the great and the beautiful in the w^orld of 
literary art. The pupil's taste is crude and needs cul- 
tivating. The future is to be thought of, something 
above and beyond the immediate wishes of the pupil. 
As the Committee on Reorganization of Secondary 
English says: ''No man is higher than his ideals. 
Human beings grow unconsciously in the direction of 
that which they admire. Teachers of English must, 
then, consciously work to raise the pupils' standards 
of what is true and fine in men and women. The 
literature lesson must furnish the material out of 
which may be created worthy ^nd lasting ideals of 
life and conduct." 

Mr. Chubb suggests an excellent device for dis- 
covering our pupils' tastes. , Let the first writing of 
the class be a paragraph on ''My Book Shelf." Some of 
the papers will doubtless be very brief. Many will re- 
veal a motley array, but all will be illuminating — if 
not positively, then negatively. The tastes of our 
pupils differ widely. Here is John, caring not at all 
for poetry, but reading, nay devouring, the Scientific 
American; Alice is sensitive to sound and loves the 



114 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

rhythm of verse; Will loves animals; and Tom over 
yonder is never happy unless making things with his 
hands. What shall we do about it? The answer is 
obvious. 

Offer various kinds of literature for consumption by 
the class. Should all be forced to read all kinds? Yes, 
to a certain extent. This choice of literature should be 
a matter of cooperation and compromise, of give and 
take between pupils and teacher. By all means let 
pupils have a voice in the selection. Let them even 
suggest names of books. Votes may be cast, and the 
rule of the majority be put into effect in certain cases. 
But the teacher should always have the power of veto 
and of independent selection whenever he considers it 
necessary. For the work must be developing work; 
it must lead to a pushing on of the frontier. Hence 
we should not stand with those who would leave abso- 
lute choice in the hancls of the pupils, nor should we 
advocate with Mr. John B. Opdycke a system of 
Literature a la carte instead of our present table 
d'hote, although we could introduce in the menu of 
the latter many entrees suited to the individual tastes 
of the pupils. Complete socialization of the choice of 
literature would keep the study on a low plane. And 
we must constantly enlarge our boundaries. 

What literature shall we teach, then? (1) Because 
of the pupil's interest in the life about him, and tn the 
immediate rather than the remote past, books to be 
read and studied by high-school pupils at the begin- 
ning of their course should be chosen largely from the 
literary product of the nineteenth century and after. 
Says Professor Tilden: 'T believe that if we are to 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 115 

save the older literature and make it a force in the 
life of the present, we must reverse our method of 
teaching the oldest first, and, using modern literature 
as a stepping stone, lead the student to appreciate 
the literature of his own life, and through that the 
literature of the life of other times." (2) Be- 
cause literature is still in the making, let us not ex- 
clude the magazine and the contemporary short story. 
Mr. Cunningham in The English Leaflet for Februai^y, 
19 IG, makes a strong plea for the use of the short 
story. He says: ^The short story, long recognized as 
a separate type of fiction, should be given a valid and 
dignified place in the reading course of our secondary 
schools. The other types of literature should be 
studied just as thoroughly as heretofore; in addition, 
the short story should receive its due credit, not as a 
minor and rather negligible offshoot of the novel, but 
as a distinct and living type, and a type, moreover, 
which has a special fitness for the work of the sec- 
ondary-school English course. Let us, at least, belong 
to our age." Some modern writers we must, indeed, 
include lest we impose upon our pupils the idea that 
all "real authors" are long since dead — the idea so 
naively expressed by a little boy in a letter to James 
Whitcomb Riley, when he said: "I tell you what, Mr. 
Riley, I was surprised to learn that you was living, 
because I thought all poets was dead!" (3) Because 
the American boy should understand the American 
ideal and the American spirit as they are reflected in 
the literary output of his own country, let us include 
American writers. (4) Because, in the words of Pro- 
fessor Dewey, '^It may be said that an education which 



116 nXGLISH PROBLEMS 

does not succeed in making poetry a resource in the 
business of life as well as in its leisure, has something 
the matter with it — or else the poetry is artificial;''^ 
poetry should be read and studied in every year of the 
course. Wisdom should, to be sure, be exercised in the 
choice. The narrative poem of stirring appeal is 
the type for high-school students. (5) Because the 
adolescent with his love of adventure and action, and 
his supreme confidence in himself is peculiarly ready 
to appreciate the Elizabethan epoch which bubbles 
over with the spirit of youth, the age of Elizabeth as 
reflected in the plays of the master dramatist of all 
time should be viewed again and again throughout the 
course. At least one of Shakespeare's plays should 
form a unit of study in each year of the high-school 
literature course. (6) Because of the universal wor- 
ship of the hero ''writ large," the big deeds of the 
heroes of other days and lands recorded in the epics 
of their native countries should be included : the Iliad, 
the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Bible stories, for instance. 
(7) Because it is our business to establish and develop 
standards of taste, the classics must form the back- 
bone of the course. Can we not draw up a course of 
reading and study based on these seven principles? 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss the use of varied types in the literature class. 

2. Name the principles of choice in selecting books for the 
literature class. 

3. Suggest a course based on these principles. 

4. Suggest a literature program for the junior high school. 

1. Democracy and Education, page 282. 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 117 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English. Chapter XIV. 

Smith, C. A. What Can Literature Do for Me? 

Thomas, C. S. The Teaching of English in the Secondary School. 

Chapter VII. 
The English Journal: 

\ Clark, Fannie M. "Teaching Children to Choose," March, 1920. 
Hull, A. M. "New Classics for Old," October, 1917. 
McCain, Rea. "The Fear of the Present," November, 1916. 
Sperlin, 0. B. "What Literature Shall We Teachf' May, 
1918. 
The English Leaflet: 

Cunningham, W. H. "The Possibilities of the Short Stoiy," 
February, 1916. 



THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE 

How shall we teach literature to our boys and girls 
in both junior and senior high school so that the sub- 
ject shall become of really vital moment to them? 

As to ways and means, the use of the club idea and 
the group method of cooperative work in solving prob- 
lems as they arise from day to day are advised. 'The 
spirit of club life and the spirit of all composition and 
literature work, wherever possible, must be social in 
nature. 'Having an audience' is a stock phrase of 
everyone interested in making composition and litera- 
ture vital,'' says Mr. Webster.^ Pupils should always 
read and talk to ''an audience," usually their class- 
mates ; and their audience should be a real, participat- 
ing audience, following with the listening ear, never 
with the eye on the text, and ever ready to comment, 
criticize, and question.-^ Extensive rather than intensive 
study with as much work only in the text as is neces- 
sary for intelligent reading should be made. Don't 
"worry the text," as someone phrases it. There should 

1. The English Leaflet, "Oral English," January. 191S. 



118 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

be much reading in the modern as well as in the classic 
writers; encouragement of free and spontaneous ex- 
pression of impressions gained from reading; variety 
in the selections chosen for study, in order to kindle the 
interest of all. Create ''atmosphere" in the English 
classroom by having: a choice collection of books and 
current periodicals on the reading table for supple- 
mentary work; a victrola for giving the pupils the 
privilege from time to time of hearing the living 
voice in a famous lyric or noted oration; a lantern or 
projectoscope for the projection of pictures as aids in 
background study; and, if possible, movable chairs 
and a raised platform so that at a moment's notice the 
place may be adapted to the presentation of im- 
promptu dramatizations. If you cannot have these 
things, make shift as well as you can through in- 
tensified appeal to the pupil's imagination. 

Memorizing passages from the books read should 
play an important part in any course in literature. 
And accuracy in quotation and citation should be in- 
sisted on. I quote on this point Miss Warner of Mt. 
Holyoke College: "Nothing develops literary tone 
more swiftly than a sharp lookout for significant 
phrases; and nothing gives greater value to literary 
study than the habit of retaining in memory or in 
notebook these little characteristic scraps of artistic 
language. Students should memorize more than they 
do, and they are easily encouraged to commit to mem- 
ory short sentences, striking epithets, and brief pas- 
sages rich with meaning. A literary work is not ade- 
quately read unless fragments of its language are 
singing in their minds. Involuntary memorizing oc- 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 119 

curs more frequently with most people than they 
guess until someone suggests that they try to recall 
a few of the author's precise words; and the habit is 
easily cultivated. One of the most interesting sets of 
sentences for memorizing was chosen by a certain class 
of sophomore boys who were studying Palmer's 
Odyssey; and of all the notable sentences chosen, the 
most immediately popular was the remark of the dis- 
creet Telemachus, 'One's dinner at the proper time is 
no bad thing!' " 

The pupil's interest and enthusiasm must be 
aroused at the very outset of his literature course. 
The inadvisability of beginning the cour^ with a dif- 
ficult selection is obvious, and for our purposes in the 
junior high-school course all long stories, even such as 
Ivanhoe and The Last of the Mohicans, come under 
the classification, '^'difiicult." Undoubtedly it is wiser 
to begin the study with work on the short story. "To 
arouse initial enthusiasm," says Mr. Cunningham, "no 
type of literature is more apt than the judiciously se- 
lected short story; for it is rapid, direct, vivid, and 
brief enough so that the lightly swerving attention 
of the young pupil is neither tempted to stray nor be 
lulled to sleep .... Again, the short story is 
admirably adapted for practice in reading aloud in the 
classroom. The vigor of the short story, the compact 
style, the abundance of dialogue, the colloquial flow of 
sentences, all aid in piquing and maintaining the in- 
terest of the pupils and in furnishing a much more 
varied test of power than the reading of an ordinary 
essay or poem. With what naive delight, for example, 
would pupils read one of Jacob's sailor stories; with 



120 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

what apathy would they drone out The House of 
the Seven Gables or even The Idylls of the King." 

The short story offers an excellent field for dramati- 
zation by the pupils, and we all know from experience 
that there is no more potent device for socializing and 
vitalizing literature than dramatization. 

The short story makes a fine point of attack in our 
literature classes. There should be another bridge 
connecting our eighth and ninth years besides the 
bridge of sighs. Why not build that bridge of short 
stories, as Mr. Cunningham suggests? The short story 
is the form of literature with which our boys and girls 
of today are' most familiar. And their reading taste 
should be trained so that they will learn to distinguish 
between the mediocre, the really good, and the palpably 
bad fiction, a mixture of which is served us every 
month by' magazines in good standing. 

Indeed the short story is so peculiarly adapted to 
arouse the interest of the student of secondary-school 
age that we may go so far as to maintain that some- 
thing should be done with this type in each of the 
years of both the junior and the senior high-school 
course in literature, preferably at the beginning of 
each year's work. Shakespeare and the short story 
should be ever with us in our high-school study of 
literature. 

The short story is an excellent instrument for 
kindling interest in the literature class if the study 
is made a thoroughly social one. And the best method 
of doing this is through cooperative class fiction. An 
experiment of this kind can be made in any of the 
years of high school, junior or senior. The results, of 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 121 

course, will vary with the maturity of the students, 
but the interest will be there wherever it is tried. 

Such an experiment was made by Mary E. Jenness in 
the Concord High School and described at length by 
her in The English Leaflet for December, 1916, under 
the title ''Cooperative Fiction." Her account is so full 
of workable and dynamic suggestions that no apology 
need be made for quoting it at length. 

'•'The place to study the craft of story-making is 
still where Jack London studied it — in the magazines. 
Bring in your copy of the Century some Monday 
morning and read the beginning of a Penrod adven- 
ture. After the first three paragraphs, stop and jot 
down on the board the actual information given so 
far ; talk it over ; call for a seven-minute written guess 
as to the rest of the story. If necessary, read on fur- 
ther, answ^er a question or two to start the game. After 
half a dozen of their forecasts have been read, read 
then the ending and give the class the rest of the 
period to work out the whole story. They cannot 
help learning something about the first two essentials 
of story-writing — a crisp, packed beginning, and a 

pointed close Penrod is a hardy perennial. 

x^lmost anything might happen to him. What did 
happen next? They all want to know, for to their 
minds a really good writer should never slam the door 
on a favorite character. There must be another in- 
cident somewhere! They want to know what' hap- 
pened to Penrod, and to a limited extent some of them 
do know. He is indigenous. Everybody knows him, 
only most of us never tried taking notes on him be- 
fore. Out of their first half-dozen suggestions, take 



122 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

the best as the assignment for the next day ; they will 
ferret their neighborhood for material. 

^Tenrod may have as many adventures as the class 
wants. Only make it clear that the next hero will be 
for them to choose. Perhaps a week from Monday 
they are ready to bring books out of which a hero may 
be bodily lifted for their purposes. Has anybody read 
anything of Owen Johnson's? Not the Tenjiessee 
Shad! Bring him. Exit Penrod of the grimy grin. 
Enter the Lank Intellect of Lawrenceville. Then, for 
a guess, it will be one of Ralph Paine's hard, clean 
fighters, who 'never knows when he is beaten.' 

"So far this has all been cooperative thinking on the 
commonest principles of story-writing. When they 
are ready for more, announce the first meeting of the 
Cooperative Fiction Club. Elect — not appoint — a 
committee on plots and a critic committee. Tomor- 
row all the stories will be handed to this committee 
before the school. The committee will consult at once, 
and bring the best three to read to the class, which will 
then vote which one it wants to continue. The critic 
committee may change weekly if you will, but the 
story will have to be restrained or it will go on for- 
ever. The epic instinct has awakened. Remember 
there were twelve labors of Hercules, twenty-four 
books of the Iliad. 

''If the scheme gets this far, anything will work. A 
story^from your college monthly, a clever cartoon, 
even a bulletin heading will suffice to start cerebration 
in the plot committee. 

"Cooperative fiction in the classroom rests soundly 
on normal pleasure of high-school age ; pupils of aver- 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 123 

age ability do like to pool their findings, to follow a 
moving goal, to add their one word more to adven- 
ture together, to find themselves. The test of the 
method is that the best pupils rapidly outgrow it, but 
at least the school has insisted that they share their 
gifts and make definite contribution. And so shall 
the duller ones — they who make up in the classroom 
full nine and twenty of any company — gain their due 
glory of self-expression by continuing their variations 
of a common theme, down the road to a communal 
Canterbury." 

An all-important subject of study in every literature 
course should be the book. And this study should 
come early in the junior high-school course. Pupils 
should be taught from first to last in their literature 
courses to respect and reverence the book, the ma- 
terial basis of their course in literature, the only 
medium through which they can commune with the 
great minds of the past, or can learn the thoughts of 
men and women of their own time that are worth 
recording in permanent form. The teacher might 
start this study by a short talk on the evolution of 
the book, designed to kindle the pupiFs interest in the 
subject so that special reports shall be forthcoming 
on such topics as The Material Shape of Literature 
Before the Invention of Printing ; The Influence of the 
Invention of Printing on Literature; The Book from 
Caxton's Press; The Modern Printing Press; The 
Making of a Book Today. 

A reproduction of the series of mural paintings on 
'The Evolution of the Book" in the Library of Con- 
gress at Washington is given in the Handbook of the 



124 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Library. A pupil might obtain one of these books and 
make the pictures referred to the basis for another 
special report. 

Then definite study should be made of the make-up 
of a book as it comes from the press today, of its 
parts, title page, table of contents, index, and the pur- 
pose of each part. Each pupil should be required to 
know the exact title and the names of the author and 
publisher of every book he studies or reads; and ac- 
curacy should be insisted upon in each detail. Pupils 
should be led to appreciate the significance of the 
manufactured product, the book, and to handle with 
care their own books. 

They should certainly be taught how to use books in 
their supplementary work and how to quote from 
books and articles in their special topic and debate 
work. 

Successful teaching, no matter what the subject, 
places responsibility upon the pupils. Why does the 
overburdened teacher insist on carrying the responsi- 
bility of the result of his teaching as well as the 
process? That burden should rest on the shoulders of 
the students. We all have moments of depression 
caused by the indifference of the class reaction. From 
the following scheme adopted by a teacher at just 
such a moment in her teaching experience, some of us 
may catch the gleam. This is what she writes in The 
English Leaflet: 

" Tomorrow we'll take three hundred more lines in 
Comus, but I'm not going to question you — you're to 
question each other. One of you will be called up to 
read a passage, and after the reading, the rest of you 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 125 

are to ask such questions as will bring out the mean- 
ing of the passage as a whole and the meaning of the 
separate words and phrases in particular. Be able to 
explain the allusions, of course; but don't forget such 
questions as these: Does Comus really change his 
costume? Or is the change supposedly wrought by a 
supernatural means? And each of you, because you 
may be the reader — and hence the teacher — will have 
to master all these varied details. Write out your 
questions for this first day at least — perhaps we shall 
not do that tomorrow. And remember it's just as 
much your business as a non-reader to ask these ques- 
tions as it is your business as a reader to answer 
questions, 

'^Next day everyone was on the qui vive. Paul 
Briton came before the class and read the first desig- 
nated passage, while the rest of the members sat eager, 
with closed books, gathering new ideas from Briton's 
sympathetic interpretation and storing up the ques- 
tions which they were to fling forth when time for the 
assault arrived. The assault began the moment the 
reader came to the end. Almost simultaneously the 
class arose, and at once Briton — standing erect before 
his mates — called upon Leonard, who put his question, 
which was promptly answered. Immediately Briton 
called upon someone else. He answered the question 
put to him, and at once called upon a third student. 
And thus he stood answering the various questions 
that assailed him. Some he disposed of with a single 
word; others required fuller explanation. One he 
could not answer, but he got the information from a 
volunteer. No one lagged. Everyone said his say. 



126 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Naturally there were some disagreements, but these 
were quickly settled — generally without the teacher's 
interference. 

"Always, however, the sensitive teacher knows when 
to step into the breach, when to interpose the right 
word, when to quit hearing a recitation and to do con- 
structive teaching. 

'The device we have outlined is based upon the 
soundest of pedagogical principles — develop the pupil 
by giving him responsibility. Under the workings of 
the device no one knew when he would be called upon 
to be the teacher and answer the fusillade of varied 
questions. There was then no escape. Nor was there 
escape as a questioner either — for sins of omission 
were easily noted and quickly chalked. Not many stu- 
dents will shrink from responsibility when such re- 
sponsibility is wisely imposed and where failure brings 
immediate exposure. In dealing with corporations we 
have learned that personal responsibility and publicity 
lessen graft; in education we may learn that they 
lessen idleness and languorous dawdling." An inter- 
esting scheme, and one well worth trying, to be sure. 

Another rather unique experiment in vitalizing high- 
school literature is recorded by Miss Warner in The 
English Leaflet for November, 1917. 

"It was suggested by a discussion in a class of high- 
school boys studying Macbeth, There's no art to find 
the mind's construction in the face.' 'Isn't there?' 
they inquired. One boy insisted that even in a photo- 
graph one could guess at general social distinctions, 
traits, and the professional standing of the subject. 
Regardless of counter arguments, both as to this point 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 127 

and the proper interpretation of Duncan's statement, 
a committee was at once appointed to collect a set of 
striking faces photographed clearly, and to submit 
them to the class for study. We made this the basis 
of the theme for the week. Many of the pictures were 
found in the magazines and in the brown picture sup- 
plements of the New York papers. The committee an- 
nounced that in its collection were the following types 
of people: a great business man, a duchess, a minis- 
ter, a professional crook, a college president, an ex- 
plorer, a noted criminal, a baseball celebrity, a news- 
paper man, an English peer, and artists and w^orkers 
of all descriptions. Each member of the class was in 
honor bound to select a subject whom he did not 
recognize, and to write his most detailed analysis for 
the next day's theme. The design of the character 
readings was not so much to guess the profession of 
the person under speculation as to disclose whatever 
traits were suggested by the face, and to reflect the 
personal impression produced by it. Free consultation 
with friends was allowable, so long as the persons con- 
sulted did not know too much. Next day the themes 
and pictures were examined in class with an open dis- 

V cussion of each analysis before the identity of the 

,.>^hotograph was disclosed. 

^The same experiment was tried later with pictures 
brought in by various students who wanted to test 
the results with faces of more noted people, still un- 
known to many in the class. Certain of the pictures 
were of Forbes-Robertson, Tagore, Mrs. Browning, 
Jane Addams, Marshall Field, Bronson Alcott, Dr. 
Seelye, Daniel Webster, Irvin Cobb, Whistler's Car- 



128 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

lyle, James Whitcomb Riley, and Alexander's portrait 
of Walt Whitman. This last mentioned was included 
until it appeared that Walt was being regularly or- 
dained into the ministry, whereupon I took the liberty 
of substituting Dr. Lyman Abbott as a more conven- 
tional representative of the cloth. After various ex- 
periments in different classes it became clear that the 
ideal selection should comprise mainly those people 
whose biographies are available, as the discussions sent 
many to the library to hunt up their favorite charac- 
ters either in Who's Who or in their own works. One 
boy read Stevenson's life and letters and many of his 
writings in an attempt to support a conviction that 
Stevenson's face had all the traits of a somewhat 
stagy but deep-dyed villain's. Finally he brought to 
class that wistful paragraph in The Inland Voyage 
where R. L. S. asks why it is that all officials at every 
port on his travels take him invariably for a suspicious 
character, and cast him into noisome dungeons as a 
spy, or at least a refugee from justice. Shakespeare, 
it seemed, was right about some minds' construction, 
after all." 

If we cf n get our pupils to realize that literature is 
as Mr. Sihith puts it : "A new pair of eyes — dozens of 
pairs — with which to see things you never dreamed 
of, and what is still better perhaps, to see things dif- 
ferently," then surely we shall have achieved our pur- 
pose. For what mortal does not want to see more 
of life and things? Surely not the youth of today. 
Perhaps indeed the use of this "new" pair of eyes or 
these dozens of pairs would bring about reform in the 
use of his original pair. Through appreciating litera- 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 129 

ture he might become more observant of the life about 
him, might indeed see things steadily and see them 
whole, not piecemeal, but in their true relations. 

Dramatization of scenes from the classics read and 
studied and imitation of an author's method here and 
there along the road as means of vitalizing the work of 
the literature class are treated separately under their 
respective headings. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss the literature class as an English club. 

2. Discuss the avoeational aim in the teaching of literature. 

3. Discuss dramatization as an aid in the teaching of litera- 
ture. 

4. Plan a laboratory course for the literature class. 

5. Should the course in literature for the business high school 
be the same as for the academic high school? Give reasons. 

6. How should the literature course for a rural high school 
differ from that of a city high school? 

7. Discuss at least two waj^s of testing the appreciation in the 
literature class. 

8. Discuss the literature program for the junior high school 
as to (1) aims, (2) methods of teaching. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bolenius, E. M. Teaching Literature in the Grammar Grades and 

the High School. 
Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, "Versification," Chapter 

XVIII. 
Dewey, J. Democracy and Education, "Poetry," p. 282. 
Fairchild, A. H. R. The Teaching of Poetry in the High School. 
Thomas, C. S. The TeacMng of English in the Secondary 

Schools. 
The English Journal: 

Aikin, W. M. "Types in the Study of Literature," April, 
1917. 

Barbe, W. "Literature, the Teacher, and the Teens," June, 
1917. 



130 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Clay, M. E. "The Hat Box in Literature," December, 1916. 
Driggs, H. R. "Seeing Classics as Wholes," January, 1918. 
Hinchman, W. S. "Reading Clubs Instead of Literature 

Classes," February, 1917. 
Humphreys, W. R. '"The Literary Study of the Bible," 

April, 1917. 
Johnson, R. I. "The School and the Library," April, 1917. 
Osgood, C. G. "The Artistic Teaching of English," January, 

1918. 



THE PROBLEM OF READING 

The chief and basic purpose of teaching reading is 
to give the child a tool for work. This tool or in- 
strument is the most important one for use in the 
whole educative process. Develop in the child, first, 
ease and facility in reading. And for our purpose here 
the definition of the activity we call reading is getting 
the thought jrom the printed page. As long as this 
thought-getting process is labored there can be no 
joy in reading. As it becomes easier and easier 
through constant practice, the desire will gradually be 
aroused for more reading. If we can arouse in him the 
desire to read further in all lines of his school activ- 
ities, he will practically be able to educate himself. 

The relation of grammar to reading is not often 
dwelt upon. Always the relation between grammar 
and composition is noted. Grammar helps the child 
to express his thoughts, it is said, but what about 
reading and grammar? Grammar properly taught, 
from the point of view of function, is a great aid in 
helping the pupil to get the thought from the printed 
page. One writer has recently summed up the prob- 
lem of English in the junior high school as the prob- 



INTERPRETATION OF LJTb^RATURE 131 

lem of reading. Teach our children how to read — how 
to get the author's thought — and then you may have 
little to do in teaching them how to study. Hence, let 
us summon to our side all the aids possible in teaching 
this fundamental of the curriculum. Reading writ 
large throughout! 

"The values to be derived from the reading and 
study of literature [Mr. Hosic tells us] are of three 
kinds, namely: training, recreation, and socialization. 
By reading poetry, plays, novels, and essays boys and 
girls should learn how to read them. This means the 
formation of a number of important habits, such as 
that of inquiring continually as to the purpose which 
the author is serving, that of observing the structure 
he employs, that of exercising the imagination, and 
that of reflecting upon the significance of words and 
events. Such training will necessarily yield several 
worthy by-products, among which are increased fa- 
cility in speech and writing, and an accumulation of 
more or less miscellaneous knowledge. 

"The second value, that of recreation, is a legitimate 
aim of school w^ork, for life is made up of leisure and 
labor, often labor that there may be leisure, though 
the implication that labor must needs be repugnant 
is unwarranted. Turning to good books for enjoy- 
ment is a habit formed by enjoyable — not effortless — 
reading. Whether this enjoyment can involve the per- 
ception of technical skill depends upon the maturity 
and experience of the reader. Pupils from tw^elve to 
sixteen should not be expected to have much power of 
critical appreciation. Nevertheless, they should be 
developing informally standards of taste. 



132 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

'The third value mentioned, that of sociahzation, 
requires delicate discrimination. It may easily be 
confused with the merely didactic and thus suggest the 
use of insincere and poorly written books and of a 
hortatory manner of teaching. Whatever makes for a 
better understanding, a greater disposition to cooper- 
ate, and a more effective type of organization in a 
group tends to socialize. Now good literature does 
disseminate knowledge of the common life; it does 
cultivate sympathy; it does set up ideals; and it does 
awaken motives. Art is the embodiment of ideas in 
forms that are socially contagious; it does not per- 
form its real service when it becomes a mere 'develop- 
ment of technical skill and a badge of class difference.' 
It should rather quicken the spirit and awaken an 
interest in those around us. Through the arch of ex- 
perience .... the reader of books may catch 
a glimpse of that untraveled world whose margin fades 
forever and forever.' " 

And Professor John Erskine declares that we are all 
under the moral obligation to be intelligent. Hence 
we teachers are under the moral obligation to make 
our pupils intelligent. A Course in General Intelli- 
gence ! How many of us know of such a course in any 
high school? The means of disseminating intelligence 
are by discussion and reading. It is the English 
teacher's function to take charge of both these ac- 
tivities. He is supposed to be able to give expert 
opinion on both of these points. The subject of read- 
ing is the special field of the teacher of literature. It 
is he then who is, in the last analysis, responsible for 
the awakening of intelligence in the pupil's brain. 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 133 

The basic needs of the pupil in every high-school 
course of study are: (1) ability to read intelligently 
and (2) ability to express thought accurately. Hence 
we indorse unreservedly Miss Dixon's statement that 
the aim of the course in oral English should be, '^to aid 
and supplement the student's work in every branch of 
work he is pursuing." The English teacher thus be- 
comes the champion of every course in the curriculum. 
When the teachers of other subjects come to view the 
English problem in this light, cooperation is a fore- 
gone conclusion, and victory for the better speech cam- 
paign is assured. 

But how shall we induce our high-school pupil to 
read? That is a question in these days of moving- 
picture distractions. First we must open to the pupil 
the treasures found in books; we must make him feel 
what he is missing if he does not read, and we must 
somehow inoculate him with the germ of reading. 
This we will never do by a minute word by word 
examination of the text or by spending several weeks 
upon a brief poem or a short story. Later on, the 
teacher may, if he chooses, chase 

"A panting' syllable through time and space, 
Start it at home and hunt it in the dark 
To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark," 

but not while trying to cultivate a taste for reading. 
At first, especially, when getting the pupil started on 
his reading career, we must read with the pupil; we 
must read much with him, and we must read much to 
him. It is often a good plan to start a story and read 
until the pupil's interest is at a high pitch ; then stop. 
He will find ways and means of finishing that story, 



134 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

you may rest assured. It is in this way only that the 
reading habit will be acquired by the student. Make 
him ivant to read. For this reason it is suggested that 
the literature course in the junior high school and in 
the first year of the senior high school should be- 
come a reading course. ^' The aim of the teacher 
should be to teach the pupil to read intelligently. To 
this end daily reading lessons to last half the English 
period are recommended. Exercises in oral reading 
prepared at home, in silent reading unprepared at 
home, and in sight reading aloud should be given. The 
teacher should drill the pupils in proper phrasing, 
which is just as important in reading as in music. Just 
as in music the test of mastery of a composition is 
the student's performance of it, so in literature the 
test of appreciation of a masterpiece is the pupil's 
vocal rendering of it. "Poetry, especially," says Pro- 
fessor Rose Colby, "should be appreciated as directly 
as possible through its own language and not through 
a resolution of that language into the language of 
prose." The pupil should hear good reading; hence 
the teacher should be ever ready to read for the class. 
The poor readers should not be allowed to bore the 
class. They should read only a few sentences — and re- 
read these after listening to the teacher's rendering. 
A passage should never be left poorly read. By so 
doing great risk is run of killing instead of quickening 
a love of literature. The teacher is the last resort. 
Always, when necessary, he should read the passage 
himself. Thus a pleasant impression is left. 

Not much technical work should be done with the 
voice, but cooperation with the music department of 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 135 

the school should result in the working together of the 
English and music departments on simple exercises in 
vocalization. Short drills on these should be given 
daily and also drills to secure clear enunciation, the 
proper pronunciation of word endings, and the avoid- 
ance of running together certain word groupings such 
as "would have," ''by and by," etc. These exercises if 
persisted in should give the pupil such command of his 
vocal organs as will make his voice distinctly audible 
and pleasing even to the sensitive ear. 

The pupil should be held to account in the matter 
of posture, about which he has learned in his physical 
training work. He should step forward and face his 
audience when reading, and the test of his reading 
should be, not once or twice but always, the listening 
class. The class should sit with their books closed 
during the reading and follow the thought of the 
reader by the ear, never by the eye. 

Much practice should be given in silent reading, 
which should be tested for both accuracy and rapidity. 
Often texts studied in other subjects may be used as 
material for this exercise. Pupils should be shown 
that the kind of reading they do depends on the pur- 
pose for which they are reading. Long ago Lord 
Bacon laid down the method. ''Some books are to be 
tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be 
chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be 
read only in parts; others to be read, but not curi- 
^ ously ; and some few to be read wholly with diligence 
and attention." 

In a word, the pupil should be taught the art of 
skipping on the one hand, and on tlio other he should 



136 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

be trained in the process of "weighing and consider- 
ing." This can be done only by means of supervised 
study or rather cooperative study by pupils and 
teacher. The teacher must show the pupil how to ac- 
quire the art of reading for. various purposes, and it 
will not be done in a week either. But it is very much 
worth while and will be a great economic gain later 
on if in the first year of his high-school work the pupil 
can acquire the art of reading intelligently, which 
means reading with various degrees of intensity, all 
depending on the purpose which is to be achieved by 
the reading. 

Outside Reading 
If we can create in the pupil a taste for reading, the 
problem of outside reading will practically solve itself. 
That such a taste is largely non-existent is shown by 
the survey recently made in the junior and senior high 
schools of Decatur, Illinois, which is probably typical 
of what prevails in most other school communities. 
For this investigation 800 students in the senior high 
school and 225 in the eighth grade were questioned. 
One-fourth of the high-school pupils reported that 
they did not read the daily papers, not even during 
the war; one hundred and one pupils read no maga- 
zines; the others reported a total of 178 different pub- 
lications; three hundred and eighty-three pupils had 
read no books during the semester not required by the 
teachers. The report goes on to state that the most 
remarkable thing about the list is the titles which do 
not appear. Dickens had but four voluntary readers; 
Hawthorne, two; Scott, two; Kipling, one; Bulwer 
Lytton, one; Cooper, two; Victor Hugo, two; Barrie, 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 137 

one; Milton, one; Tennyson, one; Kingsley, one; 
Shakespeare, one; Stevenson, none; George Eliot 
none. 

These children certainly had not learned to love 
books. 

The course in outside reading may be cooperative 
work. First, the purpose of the outside reading should 
be distinctly formulated. Then, the class may be di- 
vided into groups, and each group may submit a list. 
The lists may be discussed, written on the blackboard, 
and compared. Then, it is usually wise to make a com- 
promise, compiling the final list by choosing from 
both teacher's and pupils' selections. By all means 
start with books pupils really want to read; then try 
a book the teacher wants the pupil to read. In some 
schools credit is given for outside reading, the amount 
varying with the character and length of the book 
read. But best results come when the outside reading 
is spontaneous, when pupils read and read and read be- 
cause they want to read. 

The most effective form of report on the outside 
reading is the oral report, the avowed purpose of which 
is to make those who have not read the book under 
discussion want to do so, to excite the interest of those 
ignorant of the book to the point of ignition. Re- 
ports may sometimes be given by groups, each group 
discussing various phases of a particular book. The 
report may take one of several forms: the telling of 
the tale; the estimate of characters; the discussion of 
striking scenes or situations ; the acting out of selected 
scenes ; the dramatization of the climax. In every case 
there should be included the reading of illustrative 



138 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

passages from the book. For it is the living work of 
the author that will get across where interpretations 
and evaluations fail. In some of our classes the pupil 
has kept personal notebooks of his outside reading. 
In these he jots down a significant phrase, his own re- 
action to a situation, his personal expression of opinion. 
The pupil is not required to hand in these books but 
is encouraged to read from them every now and then, 
and interesting reading they make, indeed. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Make an examination of the reading lists for the junior 
high school as given in the Reorganization pamphlet. What is 
your comment? 

2. Suggest ways of testing the listening class. 

3. Mention wa3^s and means of vitalizing reports on outside 
reading. 

4. Discuss the group method of assignment of and reporting 
on outside reading. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Brandes, George. On Reading. 

Briggs and Coft'man. Beading in the Public Schools. 

Clark, S. H. How to 'Teach Reading. 

Colby, J. Rose. Literature and Life in the School. 

Laing, Mary E. Reading: A Manual for Teachers. 

AVard, C. H. What Is English? Chapter X. 

Wilson, Martha. Books for High Schools (American Library 
Association Publication Board). Beading for Pleasure and 
Profit (a list of certain books which young people find 
entertaining). Published by the Free Public Library, New- 
ark, N. J. 

The English Journal: 

Englemau, J. 0. "Outside Reading," January, 1917. 
Miles, Dudley. "Socializing Outside Reading," VI, p. 330, 

January, 1917. 
Pence, R. W. "Chats About Books," December, 1917. 

The Reorganization Bulletin^ pp. 99-102. 

List jniblished by the N. 0, T. E, 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 139 

IMITATION A MEANS OF APPRECIATION 

Imitative writing will prove a vitalizing, energizing 
exercise in both composition and literature classes. 
Long ago Plato recognized the potency of the imitative 
instinct and dealt at length with it in his educational 
scheme. But it is only within the past few years that 
definite use has been made of the principle of imitation 
in our educative process. Since M. Tarde's masterly 
formulation of the laws of imitation, the attention of 
educators has been drawn more and more to its study, 
until today the important role it plays in education is 
generally recognized. 

Says Professor Dewey in Democracy and Education 
(p. 43), ^'Imitation of means of accomplishment is an 
intelligent act. It involves close observation and ju- 
dicious selection of what will enable one to do better 
something which he already is trying to do. Used for 
a purpose, the imitative instinct may, like any other in- 
stinct, become a factor in the development of effective 
action." 

In the teaching of English, indeed, it is of para- 
mount importance. The child at work or play is al- 
ways copying a model. Wordsworth's lines are 
familiar : 

"Behold the child among his new-born blisses, 

A six years' darling of a pigmy size ! 
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies, 

Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses. 
With light upon him from his father's eyes ! 

See, at his feet some little plan or chart. 
Some fragment of his dream of human life, 

Shaped by himself Avith newly-learned art; 
A wedding or a festival, 
A mourning or a funeral; 



140 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

And this hath now his heart, 

And unto this he frames his song; 

Then will he fit his tongue 
To dialogues of business, love, or strife; 

But it will not be long 

Ere this be laid aside, 

And with new joy and pride 
The little actor cons another part ; 
Filling from time to time his 'humorous stage' 
With all the Persons down to palsied Age, 
That life brings with her in her equipage ; 

As if his whole vocation 

Were endless imitation." 

Conscious, rational imitation is a necessary act of 
all learning; it is the preliminary step to invention or 
creation. And it is this conscious, deliberate, rational 
imitation that is of greatest educative value. 

Technic in music and the plastic arts is acquired 
through modeling after the masters. Why should not 
this method be used by teachers of English? To those 
who object to the use of imitation in English com- 
position as deadly to originality of expression we 
would say, "Man cannot create something out of 
nothing, or form without a model." Moreover, imi- 
tation is a 7neans, not an end. Our end is their end; 
power of self-expression, not servile reproduction. We 
maintain that imitation of a master is a means of gain- 
ing power of self-expression, not of inducing self-re- 
pression. To imitate is not the way to write, but it 
is one of the ways to learn to write. "To reproduce in 
your own words" is to develop little linguistic power, 
but to produce "after the master" is to cause assimila- 
tion of the new so that it becomes part of the pupiFs 
linguistic hoard. Imitation is a thought-compelling. 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 141 

dynamic exercise. It is a preliminary step to creation. 
Mr. Jaspar Newton Deahl, in his interesting mono- 
graph, Imitation in Education, makes a plea for the 
use of imitation by teachers as a valuable means of se- 
curing mind growth, and Mr. Percival Chubb, in his 
illuminatmg book, The Teaching of English, vigor- 
ously urges the use of imitation in the teaching of 
English composition. Listen to his words: *The imi- 
tative tendency and power of the child is, whether he 
realizes it or not, the supreme instrument in the 
teacher's power. . . . Through it more than any 
reasoning or other power, the child learns to lisp and 
speak, learns the higher uses of language, learns to 
write well, to form a style, to borrow, to take fire, to 
admire and fathom and interpret the work of the 
masters." 

The testimony and experience of many of our mas- 
ters of style as to the soundness of the imitative 
method of learning to write certainly furnish eminent 
authority for using this device in teaching pupils the 
art of writing. The words of Stevenson are familiar 
to all: ^'Whenever I read a book or a passage 
that particularly pleased me, in which a thing was 
said or an effect rendered with propriety, in which 
there was either some conspicuous force or some happy 
distinction in the style, I must sit down at once and 
set myself to ape and follow it. I was unsuccessful, and 
I knew it; and tried again, and was again unsuccessful 
and always unsuccessful; but at least in these vain 
bouts I got some practice in rhythm, in harmony, in 
construction, and the cooperation of parts. I have 
thus played the sedulous ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to 



142 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, to 
Hawthorne, to Montaigne, to Baudelaire, and to Ober- 
mann. This, like it or not, is the way to learn to 
write; whether I have profited or not, that is the way. 
It was so Keats learned, and there was never a finer 
temperament for literature than Keats; it was so, if 
we could trace it out, that all men have learned; and 
that is why a revival of letters is always accompanied 
or heralded by a cast-back to earlier and fresher 
models. Perhaps I hear someone cry out, *But that is 
not the way to be original.' It is not; nor is there a 
way but to be born so. Nor yet, if you are born 
original, is there anything in this training that shall 
clip the wings of your originality. There can be none 
more original than Montaigne, neither could any be 
more unlike Cicero; yet no craftsman can fail to see 
how much the one must have tried in his time to 
imitate the other. Burns is the very type of a prime 
force in letters; he was of all men the most imitative. 
Shakespeare himself, the imperial, proceeds directly 
from a school." 

Mr. Miller, Principal of the North Western High 
School of Detroit, defending the use of imitation in 
learning to write, quotes this last sentence of Steven- 
son's and continues, ''By judiciously imitating sporting 
Kyd on the one hand and on the other studying the 
cadences of 'Marlowe's mighty line,' he (Shake- 
speare) learned to steer from grave to gay, from lively 
to severe, in a fashion which overjoyed all his con- 
temporaries except Greene, who expressed his grief by 
calling the predatory William 'an upstart crow beau- 
tified with our feathers.' It was true. It is also true 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 143 

that Wilhelm Tell and Becket remind one in countless 
ways of Macbeth and Hamlet. Theocritus taught 
Milton the plan of Lycidas, Virgil the art of writing 
bucolics, and Tennyson the melodies of (Enone, The 
influence of Demosthenes is clear enough in the 
Areopagitica ; and the plan of Burke's Conciliation 
is essentially the same as that of Cicero's Manilian 
Law. The more I wonder the less I can imagine,' 
wrote Francis Jeffrey to Thomas B. Macaulay, 
'where you picked up that style.' If he had in- 
vestigated a little more and wondered a little less, 
he would have found the answer in Demosthenes 
and Cicero, in Thucydides and Tacitus, in Homer 
and Dante, in the King James Bible, in Milton, 
Addison, and Burke. Macaulay's sentence struc- 
ture has been aped with some success by John Richard 
Green, John Churton Collins, John Bach McMaster, 
James B. Angell, and Sir George Otto Trevelyan, not 
to mention several hundreds of less skillful disciples, 
while the admirable construction of his frameworks 
and clearness of his paragraph structures have in- 
fluenced many other imitators, including Francis 
Parkman and John Fiske. Even Thomas Carlyle con- 
fesses that he got his style by imitating his father's 
speech. Did Irving learn nothing from Addison, 
Bryant from Wordsworth, Lowell from Tennyson, 
Whittier from Burns, or Holmes from Pope? Think 
of Burns's obligation to Spenser, Pope, and Fergusson. 
Indeed, the only poets I am accustomed to think of as 
not being imitators are Homer and Kipling. But has 
not the latter imitated Will Carle ton and Bret Harte? 
And does not he somewhere sing of the former: 



144 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

'When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre, 
'Wd 'eard men sing by land and sea ; 

And wot 'e thought 'e might require 
*E went and took, the same as me.* '* 

It would be easy to expand this catalogue, but it 
is needless. The conclusion is irresistible. The way 
to learn to write is to use models. 

But it will be objected that although that is all very 
well in theory, in practice it will not work. These men 
were geniuses. They assimilated their models. The 
models will assimilate the average student. 

The answer to this is that they do not assimilate 
the average student, provided they are wisely graded 
to fit his capacity. It is granted that he cannot imitate 
as wholes Macbeth, Carlyle's Burns, Ivanhoe, Silas 
Marner, or most of the other classics that are in our 
reading lists. To ask him to try to do this would be 
foolish. But he can imitate fragments even of these, 
and there is a whole world of material, outside of these, 
which may be used as the basis for exercises that are 
at once profitable and delightful. 

From our experience in the use of conscious, de- 
liberate, rational imitation of literary masterpieces as 
one method of teaching composition we may sum- 
marize the benefits to the pupil somewhat roughly as 
follows : 

1. It gives new zest to the theme work; the attack 
of the pupil becomes vigorous; the very effort neces- 
sary to attain the definite end counts for much in 
forming the habit of working actively, in shaking off 
the indifference the pupil so often brings to his task. 

2. The pupil must work with his eye on the object. 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 145 

Necessarily this helps to form habits of close observa- 
tion, to develop accuracy of expression, to enrich the 
vocabulary, to rouse a craftsman-like pleasure in the 
work itself. 

3. It stimulates and strengthens the imagination. 

4. It aids interpretation and appreciation of the 
masterpiece. The success of the pupil's imitation is 
often the measure of his appreciation. 

5. It gratifies the pupil's instinct for construction. 
He looks upon his product as an achievement. Ambi- 
tion is roused, pride stimulated when he feels he can 
do something. 

6. It promotes rather than retards individuality. 
The good or even indifferent imitation is to the stu- 
dent at this particular stage a creation. This becomes 
an aid to invention, for power to copy more than one 
style will necessarily result in power to combine and 
assimilate, and ultimately in power to invent a style of 
one's own. 

Illustrations of imitative work by pupils: 

PRAIRIE TWILIGHT 

Low dips the broad-browed sun, his crimson trail. 

Back flinging, lights with plumes of flame the sky, 

And high overhead the circling bullbats cry 

Their low, wild notes, and crying, e'er bewail 

The thought that days must end and nights prevail. 

Across the plain the munnuring nightwinds sigh, 

And coyotes flaunt their challenge, shrill and high, 

While from the east the purple shadows sail. 

I see the hand of Him who set the stars 

And all the suns to sing their way tlirough space, 

And feel the Love that fashions and unbars 

The souls of all this erring human race. 

In this deep calm of soft, descending night 

My spirit reaches upward to the Light. 



146 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

ON LAMB 

(Imitation of Lamb's Style) 
No, gentle reader, the above title does not refer to that dish 
which so often graces our Sabbath festal board; it refers to 
that little gentleman who lived in the last century, Charles Lamb, 
bookkeeper and essayist. All day long he wrote dry figures in 
musty books ; but at night he was about his self-imposed task of 
writing his deliciously humorous, fantastically imaginative essays. 
There is something about the works of most writers that gives one 
a sense of inferiority, but there is nothing of the sort in those of 
Lamb. His works are like the discourse of a friend during a 
cozy evening chat; there is nothing of the man of letters, of the 
pedant, about him. In fact, they are the words of a friend ; for to 
Lamb is given the sacred boon of friendship, friendship with the 
whole world. I say is, for Lamb is alive ; that part of him which 
can never die he poured forth upon the written pages of his 
essays, and it speaks to us eveiy time we pick up the book. He 
will never die as long as the English language is read, or there is 
a translation of his essays extant. The world is better, cleaner, 
for having once held Lamb. All who love books, love him, and 
not least among them is myself, the Lyon w^ho hopes to, some 
day, lie down with — the Lamb. 

JACK AND JILL ( REVISED) 

The mighty quest of Jack, the direful spring 
Of all his woes, heavenly Goddess, sing! 
The mighty quest which caused the youth to fall, 
And suffer grievous pain, and loudly bawl! 
Declare, Muse, in what ill-fated hour 
Befell the doom, from what offended power? 
The motlier of the youth did vainly bail, 
But got no drop of water from her pail. 
"Most noble Jack, and thou too, lovely Jill, 
Now take this pail and go to yonder hill; 
And there do thou the mighty god implore 
That he will water give, for we need more." 
He heard her words, and with a mighty spring 
He left the portal, whilst the maid did bring 
The wooden pail, in which the gift to bear 
If from the fav'ring power there came a share. 
With eager steps they went along their way, 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 147 

And when they reached the hill, thus did Ihej^ pray : 
"0 heavenly one, pray lend a favoring ear, 
And give, most gracious power, cool water clear; 
In times gone past thou'st aided Jack and Jill, 
Grant now our prayer, if 'tis thy sovereign will." 
The prayer was heard, the fav'ring god attends, 
And with his arm his mighty bow he bends; 
An arrow Hew, the earth was rent in twain, 
The crystal waters flowed, and flowed again. 
Then swift the youth and maiden filled their pail, 
And turned their footsteps downward to the dale. 
With joyful hearts they went along their way. 
(Between them did the bucket gently sway.) 
Meanwhile high up in heaven Jove's consort fair 
Looked down with jealous eyes upon the pair; 
And as they swiftlj' went their downward way. 
Thus did she to the king of heaven praj^ : 
"Almighty Jove, thou wieldest sovereign pow'r; 
Cause yonder merry j'outh to rue the hour 
When from my peacock's nest the eggs he stole; 
Pray let him slip, and down this steep hill roll." 
The father heard, and bent his awful head, 
Called forth his winged messenger, and said, 
"Son of Maia, wing thy vcay below; 
Approach the hill from whence the waters flow; 
Bring dire mishap to j'onder careless boj' — 
Let him be jiunished for his former joy." 
He spoke, and turned his mighty head away, 
While Maia's son to earth sped on his way. 
Invisible to them, the god did place 
A stone right in their way, to staj'- their pace. 
Now careless Jack approached with sprightly tread, 
But tripped, and quickly rolled upon his head; 
And little Jill, with mighty efforts brave, 
Did try, but fell ere she the pail could save. 
But quick recovering from this dreadful plight. 
She ran, right swift of pace, with all her might. 
And brought some rescuing heroes to the hill 
Where poor Jack lay, unconscious, white, and still. 
Plim in their arms the^^ bore, so limp and white, 
And brought him to the city in this plight. 



148 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The kindly matrons gathered round the lad, 

And ^vrung• their hands, and sighed, "Alas ! too bad !" 

However, 'mongst that mighty throng were some 

Who, knowing what was best, said, "Take him home." 

Then toward his home did they the boy bear. 

And round his body wept, and tore their hair. 

At length their tears were stayed, they turned away, 

And went, some back to work, and some to play. 

Thus ceased the tears that o'er his fall were shed. 

And Jack quite calmly rested in his bed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, "Versification/' Chapter 

XVIII; also page 31. 
Dewey, J. Democracy and Education, page 43. 
Pedagogical Seminary: i 

Simons, S. E. "Imitative Writing in the High School," De- 
cember, 1910. 
The English Journal: 

Frank, Maude M. "Dramatization of High-School Classics," 
December, 1912; "Ballad Writing in the High School," 
June, 1914. 



DRAMATIZATION A MEANS OF APPRECIATION 

Primitive man and the child are essentially dramatic. 
Experiences in the life of the race are acted out by the 
bard as he sings of the deeds of the great men of the 
tribe, or by the braves as they circle in the war-dance 
round the camp fire. Just so the child by gesture and 
look and pose acts out his own experiences. 

Says Professor Grosse : 'The peculiar feature of the 
drama is the representation of an event simultaneously 
by speech and mimicry. In this sense nearly every 
primitive tale is a drama, for the teller is not simply 
relating history, but he enlivens his words with ap- 
propriate intonations and gestures. . . . Children 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 149 

and primitive peoples are unable to make any narration 
without accompanying it with the appropriate de- 
meanor and play of gesture.'' The impulse to im- 
personate animate or inanimate objects — it is imma- 
terial which — is second nature to the young of all races 
and cultures. 

Mr. Brander IMatthews in his Study of the Drama, 
cites two amusing illustrations of this impulse from the 
play of American children. The first is the case of 
three little boys "playing automobile.'' The eldest was 
the chauffeur, the next was the machine itself, while 
the baby in the rear represented the lingering odor of 
gasoline. The other anecdote describes the "offering up 
of Isaac" by two little children, a boy and a girl, aged 
respectively three and four years. "They were found 
in the ruins of an old house," says Mr. Matthews, "and 
in a sad voice the boy explained that they were offering 
up little Isaac. A broken toy was Isaac. A brick under 
a bush was the ram. They told how they had built a 
fire under Isaac, admitting at once that the fire was 
only make-believe. And when they were asked Who 
v/as Abraham?' the little girl promptly answered, We 
was.' " 

Many of the games of our children are indeed neither 
more nor less than crude dramas imitating the life of 
grown-ups. 

The children of the older civilizations of China and 
Japan, as well as the children of the American Indian, 
the Eskimo, and the Bushman of Australia, delight in 
impersonating the hero of their special tradition and in 
imitating in their play the life about them. The con- 
structive imagination is the glory of childhood. The 



.150 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

province of make-believe is the particular territory of 
the child. 

Dramatic presentation as a vehicle for instruction 
was utilized as far back as the history of culture ex- 
tends. The pagan priest and the Christian Church 
father seized upon the love of the dramatic innate 
in human nature and made it serve their special ends. 
Through the dramatic appeal each taught his own 
peculiar cult or religion. The Bacchic festival of song 
and dance was the expression of the worship of 
Bacchus, and the Mystery and the Miracle play taught 
the sacred stories of Christ and the saints. The re- 
ligious idea yielded gradually to the popular desire for 
amusement; the holy day became the holiday. 

There has been incidental use of the drama as a 
means of instruction in the schools ever since there 
have been schools. In England, companies of boy 
actors were at an early date connected with the great 
public schools. Among them w^ere the famous "Boys 
of the Grammar School at Westminster," and the 
"Children of Paul's.'^ "The influences which pro- 
duced these (companies)," says Alexander F. Chamber- 
lain, "survives and flourishes today in the fondness of 
high-school pupils and university students for dramatic 
performances." Neither was the drama entirely 
neglected in the early American schools, if we may 
judge by a curious old volume by one Charles Stearns, 
preceptor of the Liberal School at Lincoln, Massachu- 
setts, entitled Dramatic Dialogues for Use in the 
Schools, published in 1798. The author of this volume 
insists upon the pedagogical and ethical value of dra- 
matic presentation. In the Introduction he says: 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 151 

"The rudest nymphs and swains by practicing on 
rhetoric will soon acquire polite manners, for they will 
often personate the most polite character. And though 
the surly majesty of some male despots among us may 
envy the graces of rhetoric to women, because they 
feel themselves already outdone by women in every 
other excellence; yet it is certain that a clear, genteel 
manner of expressing themselves is a vast advantage 
to women in forming that important alliance which is 
to last through life." Each play or dramatic dialogue 
included in the volume is intended to teach some vir- 
tue, as is plainly indicated on the title page, for in- 
stance: The Woman oj Honor (goodness of heart 
and veracity of speech) ; The Mother of a Family 
(patience) ; The Gamester (mildness of temper) ; The 
Male Coquette (absurdity of lying and hypocrisy) ; 
Roncesvalles (self government). 

Not until today, however, under the teachings of 
the new psychology, has any attempt been made to 
use the dramatic instinct of the child in a definite, 
systematic way as an aid in the teaching of English 
literature. We now recognize that the child's instincts 
and innate tendencies are to be reckoned w^ith, that 
they may indeed serve as guides or as points of de- 
parture in our educative process. At the high-school 
age the dramatic and the imitative instincts are still 
vital forces in the life of the boy and girl. Dramatiza- 
tion, which appeals to both the dramatic and the imi- 
tative instincts, is therefore an excellent device for the 
teaching of literature. In its power to rouse interest, 
to stir the imagination, to create illusion, to induce ap- 
preciation of the masterpiece, and thus to quicken a 



152 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

love for literature, dramatization has no equal. For 
literature is life, the life of other times and peoples — 
real or fantastic — and life is action. Whatever helps 
the boy to visualize the life of other days will help him 
to vitalize the people of those days. Dramatization 
makes the past, present ; the then,- now ; gives us a 
mimic world ; actually turns literature into life. Hence 
the dramatic appeal is perhaps the most compelling 
in the teaching of certain types of masterpieces. The 
dramatization of any bit of literature ''is the best pos- 
sible return which the children can make of their 
literary training and at the same time the best pos- 
sible means of securing their appreciation of the story 
they use," says Porter Lander MacClintock in Litera- 
ture in the Elementary School. 

Much is being done today in the way of dramatic 
treatment of literature in the elementary school, but 
much remains yet to do. The custom of having the 
child act out his little songs and stories in the first 
few grades is rather widespread. But as he progresses 
from grade to grade, less and less dramatic work is 
done, until, when he reaches the high school, there is 
scarcely any systematic attempt to relate such work 
to the study of literature. It is true that many high 
schools have dramatic associations and give creditable 
performances during the year for the purpose of en- 
tertainment, but it is also true that very few high 
schools are doing dramatic work in connection with the 
study of literature. The notable exception of the 
Ethical Culture School of New York City, of course, 
comes to mind, and there are certain public high 
schools scattered here and there over the United 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 153 

States where something is being done along this line. 
Just now, however, we need an organized correlation 
of the dramatic and the literary in our English courses. 
Such correlation is not only possible but is most ef- 
fective in the teaching of English. President G. Stan- 
ley Hall of Clark University says: "A recent writer de- 
mands a theater in every high school, where young 
people should be encouraged to read and sometimes act 
parts, and to assume in fancy the roles of the charac- 
ters of great men." While we can hardly hope for "a . 
theater in every high school'^ as yet, still, even out of 
very crude conditions, ways and means may be de- 
vised for making both possible and effective, dramatic 
presentations of scenes from the literature studied. 
Dramatization allows vicarious living. We learn 
through experience. Life gives some of us few experi- 
ences. Literature gives all. Through dramatic inter- 
pretation of literature the pupil gets vicarious experi- 
ence. He actually lives at other times and in other 
places and personalities. Life broadens out before him. 
He learns to appreciate. 

The following scenes are suggested for classroom 
dramatization, chosen here and there from the classics 
suitable for junior and senior high-school students. 
Many of these have already been tried out with a meas- 
ure of success. For instance, in American literature: 
a scene in which Captain John Smith and Pocahontas 
are picturesque figures; a meeting between Mme. 
Winthrop and her suitor Samuel Sewall based on his . 
Diary entries ; a dramatization of Irving's The Advert- ^ 
ture of My Aunt in which the unique procession mar- 
shaled by "My Aunt" in search of the burglar always 



J 54 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

provokes a laugh; scenes from The Last of the Mo- 
hicans, Little Women, Ramona, Colonel Carter of 
Cartersville; the short stories of Poe, Hawthorne, 
Davis, and Henry. In English literature scenes from 
various novels — Silas Marner, Treasure Islaiid, A Tale 
of Two Cities, Ivanhoe, Henry Esmond, and from the 
Iliad, the Odyssey, the Idijlls of the King, and Sohrah 
and Rustum — may be chosen. 

Dramatization of certain Bible stories is also sug- 
gested as being of special interest to junior high-school 
students. Take the story of David and Goliath, for in- 
stance. 

One method of procedure is first to read the story 
aloud. Then let the class offer suggestions as to work- 
ing it out. The class under the direction of the teacher 
might develop it in some such way as the following: 

DAVID AND GOLIATH 

Dramatize the story in five scenes. 
The characters will be: 

The army of the Philistines 

The army of Israel 

David 

Goliath 

Jesse, David's father 

Eliab, David's eldest brother 

Saul, King of Israel 

Scene I 

The armies are assembled. 

Let the class divide and group themselves on either side of 
Mie room. 

What will represent the valley between the armies? 

Goliath appears and gives his challenge. Tlien he and his army 
retire. 

There is great confusion among the Israelites. 

Let the class make up the conversation of two or three of the 
Israelites showing their fear of Goliath. 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 155 

Scene II 
This scene occurs between David and his father. 
David^s father sends him to the Israelites. 
Pupils invent the conversation. 

Scene III 
The two armies are in battle array. 
David arrives at the trench of the Israelites. 
Goliath challenges the Israelites again. 

David inquires of his brethren, ''What shall be done to the man 
that killeth this Philistine'?" 
They tell him. 

David's brother Eliab rebukes liim for coming. 
David replies. 
Certain men go out to report to the King what David has said. 

Scene IV 
David appears before Saul. 
He offers to kill Goliath. 
Saul approves. 
He gives David armor. 
David accepts it. Then he puts it on. 
Wliat does he choose? 
How is he armed? 

Scene V 
The contest occurs between David and Goliath in the presence 
of the armies. 

The class works out the scene. 

This cooperative dramatic method vitalizes the 
study and offers a good start. At first a dramatization 
may be entirely worked out by the class as in the illus- 
tration just given. At other times it may be begun by 
the class and finished by various groups of pupils. In 
no case, however, should the teacher fail to have these 
dramatic bits performed in the classroom, for actual 
presentation before the pupils of scenes from literature, 
perhaps more than any other device, kindles interest 
and aids appreciation. 



156 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

An interesting adaptation of the dramatic method 
for the purpose of visualizing the poetry read in the 
senior high school is offered in the following treatment 
of Milton's U Allegro and II Penseroso. It consists of 
a series of tableaux presented simultaneously with the 
reading of the passages which are thus visualized. 

MILTON'S L'ALLEGRO AND IL PENSEROSO 

The Reader, dressed in cap and gown to impersonate the young 
Milton, stands far to one side of the stage, so that he in no way 
becomes a part of the stage picture. 

UAllegro 

Tableau I 

Banishment of Melancholy 

The stage presents a spring landscape. Melancholy, clad in 

somber robes, enters and moves about as if seeking a safe retreat 

during the reading of the opening lines. At the conclusion 

Melancholy disappears. 

Reading (lines 1 through 10). 

Tableau II 
Summons of Mirth 
As Melancholy disappears, Mirth comes tripping in followed 
by her companions, Jest, Jollity, Quips, Cranks, Wiles, Nods, 
Becks, Smiles, Sport, Laughter, and Liberty, appropriately 
gowned in Greek robes, flowers garlanded about them. At the 
closing lines, 

Come, and trip it, as you go, 
On the light fantastic toe; 
And in thy right hand lead with thee 
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty, 
Mirth takes Liberty by the hand and leads in a merry dance. 

(Music) 
Reading (lines 11 through 36). 

Tableau III 
Country Dance on the Green 
As the curtain rises, many girls and boys come trooping in, 
dressed in picturesque country fashion. One or two have violins 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 157 

on which they are playing a merry tune. They form for dancing, 
and as the lines are read, go through the figures of a country 
dance. 

Reading (lines 91 through 99). 

Tableau IV 
Fireside Scene 
A merry group of country lads and lasses is seated about a 
blazing fireplace, cracking nuts, drinking ale, and telling tales. 
Reading (lines 100 through 116). 

Tableau V 
L'Ailegro 
The scene is a spring landscape. L' Allegro is discovered alone, 
seated on a rustic bench listening, entranced, to music, as the con- 
cluding lines of the poem are read. 
Reading (lines 135 through poem). 

II Penseroso 

Tableau I 
Banishment of Joys 
The scene presents an autumn landscape. Several girls gaily 
dressed enter and frolic about the stage during the reading. All 
rush madly out as the last line is read. 
Reading (lines 1 through 10). 

Tableau II 
Summons of Melancholy 
As the lines for this tableau are read. Melancholy, arrayed in 
soft, clinging robes of somber hue, enters ^'with even step, and 
musing gait." She is followed by her companions. Peace, Quiet, 
Leisure, Fast, and Contemplation. They join in a stately march, 
which they execute with much grace to slow music. 

Reading (lines 11 through 54: omitting 17 through 22 and 25 
through 30). 

Tableau III 
Fireside Scene 
II Penseroso, dressed as a medieval student, sits on a rude bench 
before a grate fire, which has almost died out. An open book 
is on his lap, but he is lost in contemplation and gazes at the 
flickering logs as the lines are read. 
Reading (lines 73 through 84). 



158 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Tableau IV 
II Penseroso 
II Penseroso. garbed in monastic robe, prayer book in hand, 
paces back and fortli with measured tread, while solemn music is 
softly played. 

Reading' (lines 155 through poem). 

Would not some such treatment be a fitting climax 
to the study of these poems? Would it not offer a 
welcome relief from the cut and dried parallel outlines 
of the poems with which we have all been familiar for 
lo! these many years? 

Other classics to which some such treatment might 
be applied are: Chaucer's Prologue; Longfellow's 
Tales of a Wayside Inn; the Iliad; and the Odyssey. 

When the dramatization is written out, the exercise 
becomes of value in the composition class as well as in 
the literature hour. 

Pupils in the upper classes may be occasionally re- 
quired to invent scenes similar in type to those selected 
from the classroom work, based on themes of interest 
to the school. This might lead to the production 
of a class play, ultimately supplanting the time-worn 
histories and prophecies under which we have all suf- 
fered. 

This classroom dramatization of school classics serves 
as an excellent preparation for the school festival or 
pageant which should be a feature of each year's work 
in both junior and senior high school. Subjects for the 
school pageant may be drawn from the literature 
studied or from history. Or the festival may be 
seasonal, taking for its theme the advent of spring or 
of autumn. The object of the festival, pageant, or 
dramatization which is based on the classics is to aid 



\ 



INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE 159 

the interpretation of literature; the purpose of the 
historical pageant is to carry over to the present the 
ideals of the past, to arouse patriotism and civic pride ; 
the aim of the seasonal festival is to stir the imagina- 
tion of the child, to bring him closer to nature, to show 
the meaning of life and death in the recurrent cycle of 
the seasons. 

For details and suggestions concerning the prepara- 
tion and presentation of the school festival see Mr. 
Chubb's book, Festivals and Plays, in which, undoubt- 
edly, he and his collaborators have said the last word 
on the subject. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss dramatization as a ni'eans of vitalizing the English 
class. 

2. Discuss dramatization as a test of appreciation. 

3. Work out the dramatization of Jacob and Esau. 

4. Suggest other Bible stories for dramatization. 

5. Make a list of scenes from the novels and poems read in the 
literature class that are suitable for dramatization. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Chubb, P. Festivals and Plays in Schools and Elsewhere, 

Johnson, Gertrude E. Choosing a Play. 

Miller, Eliza])eth E. The Draynatization of Bible Stories. 

Simons, S. E., and Orr, C. I. Dramatization. 

Woodbury, S. E. Dramatization. 

The English Journal: 

Bair, F. H. ''The Bible, the Greeks, and Oral English," 

April, 1918. 

Drummond, A. ]\L "Plays for the Time," Vol. VIII, page 

419 ; "An Adventure in Dramatics," Vol. VIII, page 623. 

Storm, lola (Mrs.). "The Eighth-Grade Play," April 1918. 

Pendelton, Charles S. "Teaching the Bible in the Junior 

High School," December, 1918. 



160 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The Illinois Bulletin: 

Widger, H. De F. "People of the State of Illinois vs. 
The Four Verb Brothers, Messrs. Be, Do, See, and Go," 
December, 1918. 
Wood, Charlotte R. "High-School Dramatization," May, 
1919. 
The Drama League Monthly: 

Bohn, W. E. "Teaching Drama in the High School," Sep- 
tember, 1917. 
Stratton, C. "Play Production in the High School," Sep- 
tember, 1917. 
Thompson, Gene. "Drama in the High School," September, 
1918. 
A List of Plays for Secondary Schools and Colleges of the 
Drama League of America and Committee on Plays for Schools 
and Colleges of the K C. T. E. (1916). 



CHAPTER FIVE 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 

American Literature. The Magazine. The "World War and the 
English Class. The History of Literature. The Teaching of 
Poetry. The Drama. 

AMERICAN LITERATURE 

There are at least three good reasons why the study 
of American literature should be a part of every senior 
high-school English course. 

First, patriotism demands the study of the native 
literature. The American boy should indeed be aware 
of the achievements of his countrymen in letters as 
well as in war, in government, in industry ; and an ac- 
quaintance with the writings of American authors will 
stimulate race-pride in a new direction. 

Second, the independent reading of the pupil makes 
a study of American literature almost imperative. For 
the high-school student's interest is emphatically in 
the present-day author, and his reading is chiefly from 
contemporary productions — mostly American, which 
he gets through the magazines. Hence he needs di- 
rection and guidance in this field as much as anywhere. 

Third, general culture will not allow neglect of 
American literature in the high school. Fragments 
from Whittier, Longfellow, Lowell, Hawthorne, Irving. 
Holmes, and perhaps Cooper are in the possession 
of the pupil when he enters the senior high school: 
he may get something more in a desultory fashion 

161 



162 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

of Irving, of Hawthorne, of American poets during 
his course there; it is yery doubtful if many ever 
get anything more in college. The college graduate's 
lamentable ignorance of the literature of his own peo- 
ple, as shown in teachers' examinations, would seem to 
uphold this last statement. Frequently Longfellow, 
Lowell, Hawthorne were mere names absolutely de- 
void of association of any kind. The high school, 
therefore, is the place to give the pupil a definite,' 
well-ordered course in American literature. There the 
knowledge which the pupil brings with him should be 
systematized and brought into relation with the rest 
of the product of American literature. 

Mr. Percy Boynton, in The Nation for May 4, 1916, 
says: ^To foster in a whole generation some clear 
recognition of other qualities in America than its big- 
ness, and of other distinctions between past and pres- 
ent than that they are far apart, is to contribute 
toward the consciousness of a national individuality 
which is the first essential of national life." And he 
believes that American literature studied in its en- 
tirety can do this thing. A big aim for the study, a 
big achievement from the study — certainly, the high- 
est justification for its place in the curriculum. 

The purpose of a high-school course in American 
literature should be to give a fair view of what has 
been done and is still being done in the domain of 
American letters, and to stimulate, through illustrative 
reading, further study and appreciation of American 
authors. Representative writers of each period may be 
studied through illustrations from their works. The 
main facts in the lives of the writers are to be given ; the 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 163 

historical background should be pictured ; the relation 
between the life of the times and the literature re- 
sulting, noted. The character of such work is ex- 
tensive rather than intensive. The pupils must, from 
the nature of the case, make use of the library. And 
the mere handling of many books is valuable training. 
A splendid opportunity is also offered for the prepara- 
tion of special topics. Such a course gives frequent 
chance for oral reading, which is indeed the most ef- 
fective means of inducing appreciation of the author 
under consideration. Says Professor Rose Colby in 
Literature and Life in the School, 'The best response 
to be secured by the teacher from the student in the 
work on any bit of literature is the fullest interpreta- 
tive vocal rendering of it." Present-day wTiters should 
be stressed because of the pupil's interest in the living 
author, and also because he should be led to see that 
literature is still in the making. 

Let our literature be studied as the expression of the 
American spirit. Since the distinctive contribution of 
America to world literature is the short story, this 
might serve as the point of departure. Begin with the 
short story. Read stories typical of the New England 
spirit — stories of Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman and Sarah 
Orne Jewett; of the South — F. Hopkinson Smith, Joel 
Chandler Harris ; of the middle west — Mark Twain ; of 
the far west — Bret Harte. Read those of 0. Henry, 
Zona Gale, Jack London, Booth Tarkington, and 
Richard Harding Davis for the type of American life 
each presents. Follow this study with the reading of 
Hawthorne, Poe, and Irving. Emphasize the literary 
product of the great New England group of writers of 



164 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

the middle and later nineteenth century through read- 
ing representative works of Emerson, Thoreau, Long- 
fellow, Holmes, Lowell, Whittier, and some of the lesser 
lights. The literature of the South as expressing the 
southern ideal of life and beauty should be gained 
through reading Lanier, Harris, and F. Hopkinson 
Smith. 

Reading should be the basis of this work in class and 
out. Certain longer books should be read at home and 
reported on in class; for instance, Be7i Hur, Hugh 
Wynne, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Margery Daw, Silas 
Lapham, Little Women, Colonel Carter of Cartersville, 
The Story of Daisy Miller, The Trail of the Lonesome 
Pine, Ramona, The Call of the Wild. 

A study of American patriotic prose might be made 
by discussing President Wilson's War Message and 
other recent speeches and then reading public utter- 
ances of other contemporary statesmen, Roosevelt, 
Root, Taft. From these glance backward — Lincoln, 
Grady, Webster, Franklin, Washington should be read. 

It is advisable to introduce the pupils to American 
contemporary verse. War poems found in periodicals 
offer a point of attack here. Says Mr. H. E. Fowler in 
his article on "American Literature for American 
Schools" published in The English Journal for Decem- 
ber, 1917, "One of the most promising signs in the 
literary trend of the present is our revival of interest 
in poetry, evidence of the idealism which we hope will 
some day triumph over our national selfishness. Van 
Dyke, INIoody, Lindsay, Sterling, Robinson, Masters, 
Frost — no longer are these names familiar only to the 
elect. Publishers and public librarians tell us there 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 165 

is a growing demand for the modern poets, not only on 
the part of the initiated, but by all classes of readers. 
If this renascence of American poetry is to do its part 
in checking our pernicious materialism, we must en- 
courage acquaintance with our living poets." And the 
interest has grown since Mr. Fowler wrote these words. 
The war has stimulated, beyond estimating, interest in 
the living voice of our poets. 

The very early period in our literary history should 
be given the pupils through lectures and readings by 
the teacher. It may be well to clinch the study here 
by assigning special topics, covering the most im- 
portant personalities in their relation to the times and 
to the part their work plays in the development of 
literary art in America. 

And perhaps as a pleasant ending to the course, a 
brief study might be made of the contemporary Amer- 
ican drama. Group work here is suggested, various 
groups working on various plays and presenting 
through their leaders scenes of their choice to the 
class. Certain plays of Middleton, Clyde Fitch, Moody, 
Mackaye, Peabody-Marks, Kennedy, Belasco, Augus- 
tus Thomas, Edward Sheldon will yield results for this 
study. Indeed a reading of some of the modern 
moralities, such as Every Woman, Loyalty, Experience, 
may serve as a stimulus for individual or class produc- 
tion of an original morality. Such was the case in a 
class in the Western High School of Washington several 
years ago, and The English Journal published one of the 
same kind. 

As already intimated, the course in American litera- 
ture in the high school should be largely a reading 



166 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

course, with enough background and atmosphere to 
place personahties in their proper periods. Pupils are 
advised to keep notebooks, which should be highly in- 
dividualistic in character, recording the reading done 
and the personal reaction of the reader to any par- 
ticular work, and containing clippings and pictures of 
interest to the pupil. Such a course may be made 
indeed most profitable and pleasant. 

It may be a one-year or a one-semester course. It 
may be placed in the tenth or in the twelfth year. 
Naturally, methods of instruction vary according to 
the maturity of the student when taking up the study. 

In the twelfth year, of course, pupils are older, and 
their reaction to the study is more mature. They can 
get far more from such authors as Thoreau and Emer- 
son than can the boy or girl of the tenth year; they 
can read more deeply into their motives and ideals. 
And, too, the twelfth year gives a chance in most high 
schools for correlation with work in American history 
which is generally placed in the last year of the senior 
high school. 

On the other hand, the first year of the senior high 
school is a fine place for a one-semester course in ex- 
tensive reading, and that is what the American Litera- 
ture high-school course should be. Such a course is 
absolutely new in the experience of the pupil and there- 
fore lures him on and on, and the practice in reading 
broadly which the course offers will stand the pupil in 
good stead in his next two years of work in the Eng- 
lish class. But chief of all reasons for placing the work 
in the tenth year is that by so doing many more of our 
young people are "exposed" to the course than by de- 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 167 

ferring the study until the last year of the senior high 
school. For patriotic as well as cultural reasons a.s 
many of our young people as possible should know 
what their countrymen and countrywomen have done 
and are still doing in the realm of English letters. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Outline a one-semester course in American literature for 
tenth-year pupils. 

2. Outline a one-semester course in American literature for 
twelfth-3^ear pupils. 

3. How should they differ? 

4. Plan a course in American patriotism based on the utter- 
ances of our public men from James Otis to President Wilson. 

5. Make a selection of the poems of patriotism in American 
literary history including the present-day writers. 

6. Classify the recent war literature of America for school use. 

7. Suggest a list of American poems induced by the World 
War suitable for memory work in the American literature class. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The English Journal: 

Fowler, H. E. "American Literature for American Schools/' 

December, 1917. 
Parsons, E. D. The English Teacher and Patriotism," 

March, 1919. 
Stephenson, Xellie A. "Required American Literature," 

November, 1915; "English in the Light of the War" 

(R. T.), April, 1918. 



THE MAGAZINE 



The study of American literature offers a good intro- 
duction to the study of the magazine. 'There is the 
great field of periodical literature, covering every 



168 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

human interest and wielding immeasurable power in 
shaping American thought," says Mr. Fowler, "Our 
definition of literature must be broad enough to in- 
clude the magazine .... and though we istretch 
the term ^literature' to the limit, let us include the daily- 
paper," he adds. Conditions in the literary life of 
America certainly justify it, for, as Professor Barrett 
Wendell says, "The illustrated monthly magazines 
which circulate by hundreds of thousands, and go from 
one end of the country to the other, provide the ordi- 
nary American citizen of today with his nearest ap- 
proach to literature." The modern magazine does, in- 
deed, dominate the literary life of the average Amer- 
ican today. He has time for a casual glance at the 
daily news and the morning editorial at his breakfast 
or on his way to business. Ten or fifteen minutes can 
be spared now and then in the evening or on Sunday or 
a holiday for a short story or a striking article in some 
monthly or weekly. But he has neither time nor in- 
clination for much continuous reading of longer tales 
or elaborated treatises. Besides, the cooperation of the 
economic idea of division of labor with the educational 
ideal of specialization has made it possible for the 
magazine to furnish an intellectual diet suited to all 
tastes. Moreover, our greatest writers of short stories 
and poems are those whose work has appeared or is still 
appearing in our magazines. Indeed the history of the 
American magazine is the history of American litera- 
ture. Periodical literature preceded or rather pro- 
duced an American literature, for it was the magazine 
that created the audience for the author. As Henry 
Mills Alden says, "The catholicity of magazines and 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 169 

their hospitality to young writers have done more than 
all other influences to build up our literature.'^ Again, 
many of the masterpieces of American literature first 
found a reading public through the magazine. Bryant's 
'Thanatopsis" and 'To a Water Fowl" appeared in 
the North American Review; Halleck's "Marco 
Bozzaris" and Bryant's "Death of the Flowers" were 
published in the New York Review; Poe's "Raven" 
was first published in the New York Mirror; Long- 
fellow's "Psalm of Life" came out in the Knicker- 
booker Magazine; Holmes's first two installments of 
the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table were published in 
the New England Magazine, the later ones in the At- 
lantic Monthly; Whitman's first literary success 
"Death in a School Room" came out in the Democratic 
Review; Lowell's first series of Biglow Papers was 
published in the Boston Courier; E. E. Hales's The 
Man Without a Couyitry in the Atlantic Monthly; 
Howells's Venetian Life in the Boston Advertiser; 
and these are but a few instances. And today all of 
our war poems and much of the other literature pro- 
duced by the war are appearing in current periodicals. 
The editorial history of American magazines dis- 
closed the following interesting facts: Franklin, in 
1741, started the General Magazine, which ran for six 
months; Charles Brockden Brown established the 
Literary Magazine, which lived for five years ; Richard 
Henry Dana, Edward Everett, James Russell Lowell, 
and Charles Eliot Norton were successive editors of 
the North American Review, founded in 1815, whose 
purpose was "the cultivation of literature and the dis- 
cussion of philosophy" ; the Knickerbocker was known 



170 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

as Irving's magazine from the fact that he was its 
chief contributor; Poe was editor of the Southern 
Literary Messenger, then of the Gentleman's Magazine, 
which afterwards became Graham's, the most popular 
periodical between the years 1840 and 1850 and to 
which Longfellow, Lowell, and Whittier sent their ma- 
terial; Margaret Fuller, Emerson, and George Ripley 
conducted the Dial; Nathaniel Parker Willis, the most 
picturesque figure in ante-bellum periodical literature, 
was editor of Peter Parley's Token and the Mirror, 
and established in 1839 the New York Corsair, "a 
Gazette of Literature, Art, Dramatic Criticism, 
Fashion, and Novelty." The Atlantic Monthly num- 
bers among its editors many famous writers, from 
James Russell Lowell to Bliss Perry, until recently its 
distinguished editor. And up to the time of his death 
William Dean Howells occupied the Easy Chair of 
Harper's Monthly. 

The magazine adapts itself to the rush and hurry of 
American life; it fits in with our scheme of things. 
The ftiagazine — which may be picked up and thrown 
down at will — has forced to the shelf the book which 
requires leisure and quiet concentration, especially the 
book that has stood the test of ages. We still have 
our libraries fitted out with the five-foot shelf, but the 
books too often remain on the shelf, w^hile our study 
tables are strewn with magazines of all sorts and colors. 
The magazine is today most emphatically playing a 
part in the history of American literature which 
threatens to become the leading role. It has truly 
served a noble purpose in American letters. Through 
its efforts literature has been democratized; the read- 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 171 

ing public has been enormously increased. The devel- 
opment of literature extensively through the impulse 
given it by the magazine is beyond measure. But has 
literature lost or is it losing intensively because of its 
widened scope? Does our great and growing de- 
pendence on periodical literature signify danger ahead? 
Must our literature in order to arouse interest present 
a constantly changing moving-picture show? Shall 
we lose our power to appreciate and enjoy sustained 
efforts through over-indulgence in the short story and 
brief magazine article? x\re we, indeed, already miss- 
ing something of sweetness and light because of con- 
stant catering to the prevailing magazine taste of the 
reading public? Today it is said 'Sve lack the leisure 
to grow wise," but surely these questions must make 
us pause, must furnish food for thought, must induce 
us to sound a note of warning to the coming genera- 
tion. Are we not, therefore, justified in treating the 
magazine seriously in our high-school English course? 
Can we not, perhaps, thus help the pupil to resist the 
lure of the by-paths and hold to the broad highway of 
real literature? 

For introducing magazine study the device of sending 
pupils on a search through attic and cellar for bound 
volumes of old magazines to discover stories and 
articles by our well-known authors of today works well. 
They thus discover first hand that the magazine was 
the vehicle for the first expression of thoughts of many 
of our famous men and women of today. They can 
apply this discovery to current numbers of the magazine 
and by inference can conclude that some at least of 
the contributors of today will be standard writers of 



172 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

tomorrow. Thus they will find out for themselves that 
literature is still in the making. 

Many high schools are using the Literary Digest, 
the Independent, the Outlook, the World's Work as 
regular texts in their classes. One day a week is usually 
devoted to a discussion of the current news. Often 
the class is divided into groups. Each group chooses 
a certain topic or class of topics to be reported on and 
selects a leader. These leaders arrange their group 
programs and are in turn responsible to the class chair- 
man, who is elected by vote of the class. Sometimes 
several pupils are unassigned to any group but are con- 
sidered members at large. They are responsible for the 
informal discussion which follows each report. But 
all members are supposed to participate actively in 
every phase of the work, and the success or failure 
of the chairman is measured largely by the number of 
intelligent questions that are asked about the reports, 
and points that are spontaneously contributed to the 
discussion. 

It has been found by experiment that these "digest" 
days are one of the most interesting features of the 
course. And they have accomplished much in giving 
the pupil no little power to face his audience and talk 
to the point for two or three minutes, to answer ques- 
tions accurately, and to ask questions intelligently. 
And one of the most valuable by-products of such a 
course is that through it the pupil learns how to read 
the press for a purpose; and surely in these days of 
multiple sheets we need to be able to get the gist of a 
newspaper or magazine article almost at a glance. To- 
day when all are interested in every issue of the press, 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 173 

we need more than ever before a course which shall 
tram our pupils to be intelligent and ready readers. 
Is not, therefore, a study of current periodical literature 
an indispensable part of all high-school English work? 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss the use of the newspaper in the English class. 

2. Discuss the current periodical as an aid in socialization of 
the class. 

3. Discuss the value of group work on magazine day. 

4. Outline a course in contemporary writers for a fourth-year 
class. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The English Journal: 

Abbott, Allan. "A High-School Course in Contemporary 

Literature," September, 1913. 
Bowman, James C. "The Use of the Magazine in English/' 

May, 1916. 
Dimorier, W. E. "Newspaper Week," Vol. YI, p. 170. 
Edgerton, F. W. "A Recent Experiment with Magazine 

Literature," May, 1912. 
Fowler, H. E. "American Literature for American Schools," 

December, 1917. 
Moe, Maurice W. "Magazine Poetry in the Classroom," 

October, 1915. 
Simons, S. E. "American Literature and the Modern Maga- 
zine in the High Scliool," June, 1913. 
The English Leaflet: 

Cunningham, W. H. "The Possibilities of the Short Story," 

Februaiy, 1916. 



THE WORLD WAR AND THE ENGLISH CLASS 

The study of current periodicals in our English 
classes during the World War meant nothing more nor 
less than the discussion of war problems and war 
literature. And their continued study means and 



174 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

will mean for a long time to come a study of the 
post-war problems, of all the social, economic, and 
political legacies left by that great upheaval. Things 
will never be just the same even in our English classes. 
Much of our composition work was motivated by 
events of the war; our classes were socialized through 
this bond of interest. Our pupils have acquired the 
habit of bringing world events to class as material for 
oral and written discussion, and the teacher who can 
lack for live subjects for themes today is scarcely to 
be found. 

The reading of pupils was given a new direction dur- 
ing the war. Interest in public men induced reading 
of their speeches, reading that was done with keen 
interest. That interest we have now to work with. 
And that interest will not die — it should not be allowed 
to die. Let us cultivate it and produce classes of 
readers as our graduates — readers of the best that is 
being written today on public questions and public 
life. The interest aroused in war poetry may be used 
as a point of departure for the poetry of other days 
and other men. Pedagogically speaking, the benefit 
of the World War to our English course is beyond 
measuring. 

But alone and beyond all this, the effect of studying 
the war with our pupils was seen in the development 
of patriotism and in the establishment of a right under- 
standing of conditions. The patriotic stir caused by 
the reading of some of the President's speeches in a 
certain class composed of German-born boys was in- 
deed remarkable. And this v/ork must go on. The 
testimony of many English teachers was that the study 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 175 

of public speeches made during the war and the study 
of war literature, j&ction and poetry, had not only 
vitalized the composition classes, given training in the 
direct and accurate use of the English language, 
opened the eyes of the pupils to the fact that literature 
is still in the making, thrown new interest into the 
literature of the past — but that it had rendered a 
positive national service in developing the patriotism 
of our students, a service than which none could be 
higher at the present crisis in the history of America 
and the world. This development came about through 
making the boys and girls aware of the facts. We 
have not a theory confronting us now but a situation, 
and that situation must be understood in all its aspects. 
The youth of today, who will be responsible for the 
government of tomorrow, must be taught these things 
if we would be governed aright. It is our solemn duty 
as educators to see to it that no one escapes. We might 
almost declare that the whole duty of the school-man 
today is to give our boys and girls a sane, sound course 
in Democracy as it is being worked out by America for 
the world. This is not the task of the history teacher 
alone but inheres in the work of all of us today. And 
we English teachers have really a great opportunity 
before us. Let us not hesitate to make the most of it! 

. FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss the use in the English class of President "Wilson's 
speeches concerning the war. 

2. Make a list of war fiction that you would suggest for outside 
reading. 

3. Make a list of war jDoems, English and American, that you 
might use with a senior high-school class; in a junior high-school 
class. 



176 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

4. Outline a brief course in World War literature I'or the Eng- 
lish class. Ways and means of using it. 

5. Suggest a new Peace Day Program for bcth junior and 
senior high schools. 

6. Suggest programs for the celebration of Allies' Day in both 
junior and senior high schools. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Tl\3 English Journal: 

Abbott, Allan. "The English Teacher and the World War," 

January, 1918. 
Hai-vey, P. Casper. "Wliat the War Has Done for Me," 

June, 1918 (R. T.). 
Hunt, C. W. "The Child and the Book in War Times," 

October, 1918. 
Ross, Florence. "An Experiment," March, 1918 (R. T.). 
Ward, C. H. "The English Teacher's Opportunity," June, 

1918. 
The English Leaflet: 

de Mille, A. B. "A Selected List of War Books for Boys 

and Girls," January, 1919 (p. 7). 



THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE 

Educators are grouped into two camps on the sub- 
ject of the teaching of the history of Hterature in the 
high school. Members of the one advocate first and 
foremost in the literature class of the upper high-school 
years the orderly teaching of the history of literature 
as a subject per se. Members of the other would dis- 
pense with such a course as a cut and dried substitute 
which teaches about books instead of giving the books 
themselves as matter for study. 

Is not a middle ground the one to choose? The high- 
school graduate should certainly be familiar with the 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 177 

general trend of the development of the history of 
hterature in both England and America. He should 
know the great names ; he should be able to place them 
in their proper periods. The pupils should know some- 
thing of the spirit of the times that produced this or 
that literary genius. They should come to know that 
the literature of a period is determined by the economic 
and social life of the times. But the only way they can 
find this out is to study the art product of the author 
in its relation to the age which called it forth. Hence, 
the history of literature or the study of the lives of 
authors should never be viewed as a thing apart from 
the writings of the men and women who reflect their 
times in this manner. A good collection of repre- 
sentative selections from the writings of the great is 
an indispensable basis for the high-school study of the 
history of literature. This can be used in connection 
with a brief literary history and the two studied to- 
gether. Further outside readings can be made in the 
case of the really great writers. 

Only the noted contributors to our literature should 
be studied in the high school. Touch only the high 
points. A list of red-letter authors might be made and 
followed. Minor writers should be passed over. 
Definite instruction in the method of using history of 
literature texts should be given. Indeed, at the be- 
ginning of the study of the history of literature, the 
English class might well resolve itself into a super- 
vised study period. 

Pupils must be led to get essentials and to disregard 
non-essentials. And such a method of study cannot be 
cultivated over night. Hence, prolonged class study 



178 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

with the teacher is necessary. Pupils must be exposed 
to the method, and the exposure must be a good, long 
time-exposure before the camera will register much 
that is of moment. In special topic reports on the 
lives of the great authors, lead the pupil to look for 
striking, unique characteristics of the men and women 
under examination. It is the distinctive feature that 
we can remember. Look for this. This will stick, 
whereas the dry-as-dust biography giving date and 
place of birth, education, works, will utterly fail to 
excite the pupil's gray matter into even a receptive 
state. 

The very early periods in both American and Eng- 
lish literature might well be covered thus. Class study 
and illustrative readings with the teacher will be found 
profitable here. Care should be taken later to make all 
the assignments in the text and of illustrations definite. 
Pupils should be taught how and what to skip. Liter- 
ary maps are indispensable for such a course. And 
the supplementary classroom described by Mr. Allan 
Abbott in The Reorganization Bulletin (page 114) 
would be an invaluable aid in visualizing periods and 
works studied. INIr. Abbott suggests a library class- 
room, not assigned to regular classes but available for 
occasional use by any class. This room should be fitted 
out with movable seats, a small stage, a victrola, and 
a refiectoscope. When the class period of any par- 
ticular class is to be devoted to dramatization exercises 
or lantern-slide talks by pupils, the class could con- 
veniently meet in this room. It is not hard to see how 
such an equipment would serve as a determining factor 
in making vital the literary data taught. 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 179 

The course may be taken up chronologically or it 
may be followed through a study of types — the essay, 
the lyric, the epic, the novel, the drama, the short 
story. It may start with the present and look back- 
ward toward beginnings, or it may follow the evolu- 
tionary idea. Ways and means are varied and many. 
In such a course four things should be noted: 

1. It is all-important that the start should be 

just right. This can be accomplished only 
through much cooperative work with the 
teacher in the class period. 

2. The teaching of isolated dates and facts is 

wasted time. 

3. The vitalization of the study of the lives of 

authors can be accomplished only by the use 
of illustrative material. 

4. Some time should be given to the study of 

present-day writers. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Should the study of the histoiy of literature in the high 
school be merely incidental'? 

2. Discuss the relative value of teaching the history of litera- 
ture chronologically or by the de^•elopment of types. 

3. Why should the study of illustrative material be carried on 
simultaneously with the study of biography? 

4. How should liistory become the background for the study of 
the history of literature*? 

5. Make lists of English dramas, novels, and poems which illu- 
minate the history of the times in which they were produced. 

6. Discuss the advisability of starting the study with present- 
day writers and then looking backward. 

7. Should the author's life be studied before or after his book 
is read by the class? Give reasons. 



180 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

21ie English Journal: 

Aiken, W. M. "Types in the Study of Literature," April, 
1917. 

Barnes, W. "Anthologies in the High School," April, 1919. 

Hinehman, W. S. "The Fringes of Literature," April, 1917. 

Lodor, E. "Shall We Teach the History of Literature in 
the High School?" Vol. VI, p. 601. 

Pound, Louise. "What the History of Literature Is," Sep- 
tember, 1918. 

THE TEACHING OF POETRY 

/. In the Junior High School 
Poetry is given a very definite place in the senior 
high-school course of study. It should have the same 
consideration in the junior high school. The problem 
of teaching it is everywhere the same, especially as to 
aim, but there will be differences of emphasis, method, 
and selection. Rightly taught, the value of poetry in 
education cannot be too strongly stated. By what 
other means can so much be done to train and stimulate 
the intellectual, the esthetic, and the moral activities 
of the human spirit? What greater thing can we do 
for our children than to create or develop in them a 
love of beauty? To bring the minds of pupils under 
the influence of beauty is to bring them under the 
reign of law. It is to give them a resource against 
dull materialism, and a weapon of defense in the 
spiritual encounters that life brings. 'Toetry is the 
first and last of all knowledge — it is as immortal as 
the heart of man." It is a transcript of life. To know- 
poetry is to know life, and to know life is to be educated 
in the truest sense of the word. 

If we accept Addison's statement that the great func- 
tion of poetry is to awaken, stimulate, or change human 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 181 

feeling, then it is clear that the response to a poem 
must be emotional. The true lover of poetry will 
know what poetry has done for him, and will base 
Ms aims in teaching it on that experience. They may 
be stated as follows: (1) appreciation and enjoyment 
of the individual poem, (2) comprehension of its 
meaning, (3) sympathetic response to its emotional 
appeal, and (4) enjoyment of the beauty of its dic- 
tion, form, and style. This emphasis upon the emo- 
tional aspect of poetry must not be construed to mean 
neglect of the intellectual side of the work, nor blind- 
ness to the necessity for hard work. Teachers, how- 
ever, must ^ guard against emphasizing the jact ele- 
ment in poetry rather than the value element, and 
must realize that neither historical, geographical, nor 
philological research is of the essence of poetry. -' 

Teaching poetry to children should be the easiest and 
most delightful task imaginable. Most children have 
a natural love for it. They instinctively have the 
poetic attitude. They fall into a singsong tone or chanty 
in their games. They make up rimes, often of mean- 
ingless syllables, enchanted by the repetition of a 
sound. Not all children are — like the poet — of imagi- 
nation all compact, but most children have some 
imagination to begin with, and are capable of growth 
in this direction. The land of make-believe is known 
to all of them. These natural aptitudes determine the 
method of teaching poetry to girls and boys of the 
seventh, eighth, and ninth years, and the selection of 
the poems to be read and studied. 

Every child loves stories, and few outgrow that 
love; narrative poetry therefore should predominate 
in the junior high school. Much of the poetry of 



182 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

American writers will be familiar to the pupils of junior 
high-school age, but certain poems are peculiarly ap- 
propriate to this stage of development — Whitman's 
^'0 Captain! My Captain!", for example, and the 
patriotic poems of Lowell and Longfellow, Miller's 
"Columbus," and Holmes's "The Chambered Nautilus." 
The love of adventure is strong in boys of twelve and 
thirteen. They will enjoy Macaulay's Lays of Ancient 
Rome, with their tales of heroic deeds ; the old ballads 
of Robin Hood, "Sir Patrick Spens," and "The Hunt- 
ing of the Cheviot"; Scott's Marviion and The Lady of 
the Lake; Arnold's "Sohrab and Rustum"; Tennyson's 
"Charge of the Light Brigade" and "The Revenge"; 
Browning's "An Incident of the French Camp"; 
Noyes's "The Highwayman"; and Kipling's "Gunga 
Din." The storehouse from which to choose is a 
rich one. 

Short descriptive poems are not beyond the ap- 
preciative capacity of junior high-school pupils and are 
valuable for developing the imagination. Many pupils 
do not visualize readily ; some get no mental image at 
all from a poetic line. Such pupils need help by 
question and suggestion and time. They must not be 
hurried. Several of the stanzas in Tennyson's "The 
Lady of Shalott" give little pictures so sharply out- 
lined that it would be a very dull mind indeed that 
could not visualize them. But one line in the follow- 
ing stanza needs time for. the picture to form : 

"On either side the river lie 
Long fields of barley and of rye 
That clothe the wold and meet the sky; 
And thro' the field the road runs by 
To many-towered Camelot" 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 183 

All is clear until we come to "many-towered 
Camelot." There the teacher must pause and draw 
out or build up a picture of the ancient city climbing 
the hill, with its many towers. 

"And up and down the people go, 
Gazing where the lilies blow 
Round an island there below. 
The Island of Shalott." 

By questions, set them to thinking who and what 
these people are and how they look. Then read Tenny- 
son's account of them in stanzas 6, 7, and 8. After the 
discussion read the stanza through again so that the 
final impression will be unified. Lanier's 'The Song of 
the Chattahoochee" appeals to the eye and the ear 
both. In Wordsworth's ''Daffodils," "Fluttering and 
dancing in the breeze," gives a picture full of color and 
motion. It makes a charming contrast to the sea 
picture in Masefield's "Cardigan Bay" — the gold of the 
daffodils and the green of the sea. There is motion in 
both poems — "Clean, green, windy billows notching 
out the sky." Masefield's "West Wind" should be in- 
cluded in this list, and the many vivid pictures in 
Coleridge's "The Ancient Mariner." 

The study of a poem should always be begun in class 
and often finished there. Since appreciation of the 
masterpiece is emotional, not intellectual, the mood of 
the class must be in key with the emotional tone of 
the poem. Introductory or explanatory material may 
be assigned for home study, or, preferably, given by 
the teacher. The setting made clear, and all obstacles 
in the form of unknown words or strange expressions 
removed, the teacher should read the poem to the class. 



184 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Much of the beauty of the poem is lost if the ear does 
not get the rhythm, the tone values, and the harmonies 
of sound. Another reason for this plan is that the 
poetic form, with its contractions, its inversions, and 
its imagery often baffles the boy or girl trying to get 
the thought, and the result is discouragement and a 
distaste for poetry. The younger the class, the more 
necessary it is that they should hear the poem read. 
According to Professor Corson, Mr. Fairchild, Pro- 
fessor Alphonso Smith, and other successful teachers, 
nothing is of more value in the study of poetry in the 
high school than good reading. The ability to read 
poetry agreeably and sympathetically should be a part 
of the equipment of every teacher of English. Let the 
pupils read when they can read well enough so that the 
class enjoys hearing them, but never allow an ex- 
quisite line to be marred by a blundering and in- 
sensitive reader. After the reading come questions 
and discussion with the aim of finding out if the poem 1 
has been understood, and if the mental images are '; 
correct. The study will involve more than one re- \ 
reading of a difficult or beautiful passage, for the final i 
impression should be of the poem itself and not of 
some contributory material. A poem should never be 
regarded as affording material for other kinds of study. 
The simpler poems like the old ballads need very little 
explanation, provided the background has been pre- 
pared. "The Ancient Mariner'' needs more interpreta- 
tion. The effect of the poem can easily be destroyed, 
however, by too much insistence on the "ethical les- 
son." Coleridge has made it very plain in two simple 
stanzas. Before reading Tennyson's "The Revenge," 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 185 

the teacher should read to the class extracts from Sir 
Walter Raleigh's account of the incident. This gives 
an opportunity to explain some of the terms which 
might make difficulty — pinnace, galleon, Inquisition, 
etc., so that the poem can be read without interrup- 
tion. If the story is clear to the class, little need be 
said of the fine idealism of the poem — the "lesson" is 
obvious, and it is a strange thing if the pupils do not 
thrill at the mere reading of it. 

A very good place for Arnold's "Sohrab and Rus- 
tum" is in the ninth year, after the reading of the 
Odyssey. Pupils are familiar with the characteristics 
of the epic, and will turn easily from tales of Greek 
heroes to those of Persian. The story of Rustum's 
marriage to the Tartar princess and the circumstances 
of Sohrab's birth should be explained to the class. 
The story can be told in such a way as to bring out 
the Eastern setting. Familiarize the class with the 
names of the principal characters. Then begin to 
read the poem to them. Pause after the second stanza 
to see that the pictures of the Tartar camp with the 
"black tents clustering like bee-hives," and Peran- 
Wisa's tent — "A dome of laths, and o'er it felts were 
spread," all so different from anything within the 
range of their experience, are clear and correct. The 
poetic atmosphere suggested by the opening lines must 
be felt by the class — the gray of early morning — the 
broad river — the fog rising from it — the stillness of it 
all — for that same note is struck, only more deeply, 
at the close — cold, darkness, fog, and the majestic 
river flowing toward the sea. 



186 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The story opens simply. Sohrab's request is 
granted, and the hosts are drawn up on opposite sides 
to hear the herald's message. The description of the 
Tartar tribes need not be dwelt upon at length — if at 
all. The sole purpose of the passage is to give "local 
color/' and the class will get it from hearing the lines. 
The challenge is given, and Rustum is implored to 
answer it. His grievance against the King, his final 
decision to meet the new champion, but in disguise, 
and his reasons for refusing to fight under his own 
name must be understood, for any lack of clearness 
at this point will be fatal. It is hardly necessary to 
say that there should be no interruptions to the read- 
ing after the point where Sohrab and Rustum meet. 
The story grows more intense with every line, and the 
artistic effect of the combat with its tragic climax 
would be ruined by explanatory comments. 

Acquainted through the Odyssey with Homer's use 
of the simile, classes will be interested in discovering 
the homeric similes in this poem. Some pupils will 
be struck by the idea of fate expressed by Sohrab. All 
will be moved by his courage and generosity, and by 
his love for his father. The story lends itself well to 
dramatization — Sohrab's plea to Peran-Wisa, the chal- 
lenge to the Persians, the scene in Rustum's tent, the 
dialogue between Sohrab and Rustum before the fight 
— all sharply dramatic. The little play might open 
and close with the descriptive passages of the plain 
and the Oxus river. By this means much memorizing 
would be done, for the lines should be used as they 
were written whenever possible. There is opportunity 
for imitative writing, too, where it is necessary to make 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 187 

connecting links. This poem, so sure in its appeal, 
should always find a place in the course. 

Outlining, paraphrasing, and reproduction of poems 
have done much to destroy appreciation of poetry. If 
an outline seems advisable in any particular class, let 
it be oral and informal. As for paraphrasing, it not 
only has no value in this connection, but does positive 
harm. Professor Corson says that poetry should be 
apprehended as directly as possible through its own 
language. Nothing should be done to dull the im- 
pression of a poetic passage as it was written — for its 
beauty consists in choice of words and arrangement as 
well as in thought. 

Memorizing should be done constantly, but this 
must not be made a hated task, nor need it be. Begin 
this work in class. Read a favorite passage once or 
twice, making sure that the thought and images are 
clear ("a pinnace, like a fluttered bird" — What does 
the pupil see?). Then call on someone to repeat the 
passage. That pupil may need assistance, but the 
next one will probably be able to give it perfectly, 
and the class will be charmed to see how easily the 
thing may be done. Give them all the aids afforded 
by the passage, observing the rime arrangement, steps 
in the development of the thought or story, the out- 
line of a picture, etc. If the habit of memorizing 
good poetry is formed in the junior high school, a 
wonderful foundation has been laid for further reading. 

Should there be any study of poetic form in the 
junior high school? Very little, and that dependent 
on the course. If in the ninth year there is much 
reading of ballads, if the course includes some such 



188 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

collection as Gayley and Flaherty's Poetry of the 
People, for instance, a study of the ballad form would 
have interest if followed up by imitative work. Many 
pupils take delight in attempting original ballads, and 
there is real value in such attempts, and occasionally 
real merit in their production. The ultimate value, of 
course, is in the deepening of interest in the ballads 
themselves. 

As to diction, that should be emphasized from the 
beginning, but delicately and tactfully at first, never 
in a formal way. The very name ''diction" has some- 
thing forbidding about it. Children are never too 
young to love a word for its own sake — its sound, or 
its suggestion, or for some mysterious charm it has 
for them. And poetic diction, being simple and con- 
crete, is not so far removed from the diction of their 
everyday life as one might think at first. It pays to 
dwell on magical words and felicitous phrases till their 
beauty and force sink in. Substitute a commonplace 
expression for some exquisitely right word in a line of 
poetry, and see if the pupils do not instantly feel the 
loss. It is possible to do much more with this element 
of poetry in the senior high school. There the study 
of poetic diction does much to develop appreciation. 

If it is objected that with this method of teaching 
poetry the teacher, not the pupil, does the work, the 
answer is that that fact is unimportant. The aim is 
not to make the pupils work. Poetry is not the ma- 
terial for drill — and moreover, there is ample oppor- 
tunity for work in the study of poetry later on. The 
aim is to make pupils like poetry so well that it shall 
be, in later years, a resource in the business of life 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 189 

as well as in its leisure. And anything that is in- 
spirational is educational in the broadest sense. Arlo 
Bates says that the most important office of literature 
in the school as in life is to minister to delight and 
to enthusiasm. That this is not the universal result of 
our efforts is a melancholy fact. The principal of a 
certain high school had occasion to reprove two small 
boys in the entering class for plastering a portrait of 
Milton with tiny wads of paper, shot with skill and 
accuracy at the tempting target. The teacher in 
charge of the study hall had reported them as having 
"desecrated Milton's portrait." 

"What made you choose Alilton's portrait?" said the 
principal, fixing the culprits with a stern eye, "Have 
you anything against him?" 

"Oh, no, sir," they cried, glad to be clear of that par- 
ticular crime, "We haven't had him yet!" 

One laughs, but what an arraignment! 

//. In the Senior High School 

Perhaps the most important aspect of the study of 
poetry in the first year of the senior high school is the 
selection. This is a critical time in the educational 
life of many a pupil — especially of many a boy. What 
shall we give him that will hold his uncertain interest? 
His intolerance of anything which does not meet his 
approval is so whole-souled that it is useless to try 
to force him in any direction. Love stories he will not 
have. He no longer cares so warmly for mere adven- 
ture. But he is interested in large questions of right 
and wrong, in patriotism, and in standards of conduct. 
He will like Byron's "Prisoner of Chillon," and he will 



190 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

not be ashamed of the wave of sympathy that sweeps 
his soul. Kipling's *lf" will interest him, and Vachel 
Lindsay's "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight," R. 
W. Gilder's fine sonnet, "On the Life Mask of Abra- 
ham Lincoln/' several of Tennyson's Idylls of the 
King — "The Passing of Arthur" and "Gareth and 
Lynette," for example. In the latter the love theme 
can be touched very lightly, and the interest centered 
on the qualities of courage, generosity, and knightly 
courtesy — Gareth's self-control and good manners in 
the face of Lynette's very trying conduct. The sea 
poetry of Masefield and Kipling, and Service's Rhymes, 
of a Red Cross Man are almost sure to win enjoyment. 
A new field opens up for study in the eleventh and 
twelfth years — the richest of all, but the most diffi- 
cult to deal with. How shall lyric poetry be taught? 
What is the approach? The method? How share 
with our pupils this beautiful definition of poetry? 

The magic light that springs 

From tlie deep soul of things 

When, called by their true name, 

Their essence is set free; 

The Avord, illuminate, 

Showing tlie soul's estate, 

Baring the hearts of men : Poetry ! 

— Annie L. Laney 

Shall there be a formal preparation for the lyric? A 
lining up of the poems already familiar to the class 
under the heads, "objective poetry" and "subjective 
poetry," with the distinguishing characteristics of each 
class? A division of lyric poetry into classes — the 
song, the ode, the elegy, the sonnet? All this is use- 
ful knowledge, and a legitimate part of the intellectual 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 191 

possession of a high-school graduate. He would be bold 
indeed who prescribes arbitrarily the one method sure 
to succeed. One can suggest, however, supported by 
the tests of experience. Keeping in view the aim of 
true appreciation, which involves comprehension and 
enjoyment, one feels that the first enthusiasm of the 
class in taking up something new should be spent on 
the thing itself, and not on study about the thing. 
Begin with the poetry, then. Begin with Burns. One 
can hardly fail there. Even the most prosaic soul, 
who has never been "attended by the vision splendid" 
will read Burns. 'To a Mouse" and "To a Mountain 
Daisy" lead easily to the discussion of Burns's fond- 
ness for animals, flowers, and all out-of-door life, and 
to his sympathy with man. The introduction to his 
songs should be musical. Any musical talent in the 
class should be utiHzed, and good victrola records when 
available. Through further reading and discussion of 
Burns's poetry lead the class to discover the personal 
element in the lyric. Formulate a definition: A lyric 
is a poem that expresses personal feeling, sentiment, 
or emotion. They will see that this expression must 
be sincere to be effective, and that the beauty of a 
lyric depends on the nobility of the theme, and the 
intensity and spontaneity of expression. 

"The Sohtary Reaper," "To a Cuckoo," "The Ode 
to Duty," and certain of the sonnets such as "London 
in 1802," and "The World Is Too Much with Us" make 
a good introduction to Wordsworth. Byron's poetry 
always appeals to pupils of this age, and though they 
may tire later of his egotism and passionate defiances, 
a liking for his poetry at this stage of their develop- 



192 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

ment helps to strengthen their liking for poetry in 
general. 'The Ocean" and ''Night on Lake Leman" 
are favorites. 

Shelley and Keats are not for all minds, perhaps, 
and the teacher should feel his way carefully. Begin 
with a reading of Shelley's "The Cloud.'' The music 
of the lines and the comparative simplicity of the 
ideas will nearly always carry it into the pupils' af- 
fections. "The Ode to the West Wind" is within their 
grasp, too, and they will read Shelley's prayer with 
understanding and sympathy. With Keats the prepr 
aration has to be made skillfully. Begin with the ex- 
quisite "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Linger over the title. 
The average boy, who has probably never observed an 
urn of any kind, reads it with nothing in his mind. 
Pictures would be helpful at this moment. Some de- 
scription of a Grecian urn is necessary with its proces- 
sion of figures and symbolical scenes. When the idea 
of the subject is clear, read the poem through to the 
class. They will get something from that first read- 
ing, but, of course, there will be questions, and so the 
study will begin. The diction in this poem is so simple 
that it presents no difficulties, but the pupils will need 
help with the ideas. Perhaps to some the line, "Heard 
melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter," 
will never be anything but a mystery. To others it 
will be a revelation. Keats should never be forced 
upon any class of high-school age, but it is worth while 
to give pupils the opportunity of becoming acquainted 
with his poetry. The poem appended, written by 
a high-school boy in imitation of the "Od€ on a 
Grecian Urn," shows what Keats can mean to some. 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 193 

ODE TO AN INDIAN ARROW-HEAD 

Thou cold and silent messenger of death, 

Thou courier, swift as Mercury in flight, 

Fearless destroyer, snuffing mortal breath 

As lightly as a candle in the night; 

On what a fearful errand wert thou bent? 

What message called thee forth to cleave the air, 

More quickly than the wind to reach thy goal? 

Against the kingly roebuck wert thou sent? 

Perchance to end the flight of timid hare, 

Or rob some human mansion of its soul? 

Brave oaks, ye sturdy sentries of the wood 

That guard the spot, ye know the aAvesome tale 

And willingly would tell me if ye could, 

The hidden thoughts that make your branches quail, 

'Twas down this path there came a wary tread; 

Behind yon bank the stealthy watch was made. 

While everj^ woodland songster ceased to sing. — 

Unwitting enemy, beware yon shade! — 

Alas, too late, and lifeless sinks his head, 

His heart has felt the stone-tipped arrow's sting. 

Or was it in some savage Waterloo, 

Where fought the painted braves of many tribes, 

You rushed in vain against the men who knew 

To call the lightning down, by magic bribes? 

You looked from out the quiver and beheld 

A warlike council circled round the fire; 
And darkly scowling wrath was on each face. 
You heard the beating tom-toms Avhich impelled 

The mystic war dance, roused the vengeful ire 
Of warriors, to protect their falling race. 
The morning breaks ; what shadowy forms are these 
That silently the leafy pathway tread, 
And waiting, crouch behind the sheltering trees? 
Ah, 'twas the sun upon an arrow-head. — 
Approaching comes the tramp of many feet; 
A curdling war-whoop leaps from hill to slioi-e; 
Then swift and true the flint-tip takes its flight. 
But swifter yet, there comes the leaden sleet. 
The thunder rolls, the lightning flashes bi-iglit; — 
The hand that sent thee draws the string no moic. 



194 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Ah, roughly chipped arrow-head of stone, 

Thou piece of nature's very element, 

Imbedded in a mossy bank alone 

And harmless, with thy deadly impulse spent, 

Thy task as mortal messenger is done; 

No more thou givest vent to human wrath 

Or fliest to arrest some beating heart. 

The magic streak of fire thy place has won; 

The tribes no longer take the blood-stained path; 

So rest in peaceful quiet where thou art. 

The war has produced some fine lyrics, which should 
not be neglected. Rupert Brooke's ''Sonnets of 1914," 
McCrae's 'In Flanders Fields," W. M. Letts's "The 
Spires of Oxford" are only a few of the best known 
poems to be found in every collection of war verse. 
With some classes these lyrics of today make the most 
happy beginning for the study of lyric poetry. 

Milton's descriptive lyrics, "L' Allegro" and 'Tl Pen- 
seroso," require more study than most short poems be- 
cause of their wealth of mythological and literary allu- 
sions, but this study should never be allowed to assume 
the importance of the end in view, and one should keep 
in mind these sentences from the report of the commit- 
tee on the Reorganization of English in Secondary 
Schools, page 73 : "Poetry, especially the lyric, should 
be less exhaustively studied than other types (of litera- 
ture). Close analytical treatmicnt and a painstaking 
mastery of notes are ruinous to its spirit and sensuous 
appeal." The first interest of the class will center in 
the series of pictures in the two poems. The proces- 
sion of figures should be described — Sport, wrinkled 
Care, Laughter holding both his sides, etc. Some 
boy who is clever with his pencil will illustrate this 
passage and the companion passage in 'Tl Penseroso" ; 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 195 

or a series of tableaux may be given with reading of 
the lines. Pictures and lantern slides are valuable for 
giving pupils a background for the study of the nature 
poetry of England. The concrete thing is but an aid — 
a starting-point for fuller visualization. The lines — 

''Russet lawns and fallows gray" 
and 

"Towers and battlements it sees 
Bosomed high in tufted trees" 

will be meaningless without some knowledge of the 
characteristic aspects of an English landscape. 

In discussing the thought in the two poems, it should 
be made clear that they are practically, two divisions of 
a single poem, depicting the enjoyments of a man in 
contrasting moods. Pupils do not always see this fact, 
for one reason because they do not, at first, realize that 
the Melancholy banished from ''L' Allegro" is not at all 
the 'Tensive Nun" welcomed in "II Penseroso." At 
this point the story of Milton's life at Horton should be 
brought in. Pupils will see that the poems are an ex- 
pression of the young Milton's tastes, ideals, and ambi- 
tions. 

Beauty and suggestiveness of diction are a striking 
feature of Milton's poetry. Macaulay says that each 
epithet is the text for a paragraph, so rich is it in associ- 
ations. Imagination travels far, stirred by such ex- 
pressions as ''iron tears," ''storied window^s," "richly 
dight/' "civil-suited morn"; and lines and passages 
should be read and lingered over until they have sunk 
into the consciousness of the pupils. 

Another element of beauty is the harmony between 
thought and form in these poems. The opening lines 



196 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

in "L'Allegro'^ illustrate this quality. The tone of the 
passage is one of gloom and stern vigor. The banished 
mood is 'loathed," and is consigned to a fearful place. 
How do meter and diction contribute to this impres- 
sion? The meter is irregular, with the occasional sub- 
stitution of a trochee for the initial iambus of a line, 
or the omission of the opening unaccented syllable. 
There is an alternation of short and long lines. The 
words are long — contrast with the monosyllables in 
the body of the poem — and there is a preponderance 
of heavy vowel and consonant sounds — long o's, and 
b's and d's. The whole effect of the sounds is slow and 
heavy. This contrast with the light and tripping effect 
of the succeeding lines is most artistic. It is hardly 
necessary to repeat that nothing will make this mastery 
of verse clear but hearing the poems read musically 
and sympathetically. Mr. Albert Walker says in his 
excellent school edition of the minor poems: ''No bet- 
ter exercise for training the ear to a perception of the 
finer harmonies of verse can be found than to read the 
lines of 'L' Allegro' and 'II Penseroso' metrically, with 
the attention directed toward detecting the subtle 
adaptation of the movement to the varying shades of 
feeling expressed by the poet." ^^^^ ^^^^^^ 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bates, Arlo. Talks on the Teaching of Literature (Chap. VIII). 
Bolenius, Emma. The Teaching of Literature in the Grammar 

Grades and High School. 
Eastman, Max. The Enjoyment of Poetry. 
Fairehild, A. H. R. The Teaching of Poetry in the High School. 
Newbolt, Henry. A New Study of English Poetry. 
The English Journal: 

Davis, Ada L. "Preparing Seniors for Palgrave," June, 1915. 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 197 

The English Leaflet: 

Abrams, Jeanette F. "Published Airs for Songs in The 
Golden Treasury," February, 1919. 



THE DRAMA 

A course in the drama for high-school pupils should 
be primarily a reading course, with the aim of intro- 
ducing the great world dramatists, and it should be 
given in the last year. It is rarely necessary to develop 
an interest in plays and acting. It is already there 
and only needs guidance. An acquaintance with good 
plays will do much to raise the standard of taste in 
the class, so that in their selection of school plays they 
will not be content with the usual commonplace and 
sentimental trash. It is not too much to hope that 
the schools may help in time to bring about a demand 
on the part of the American public for better plays in 
our theaters. 

If it is not possible to offer an entire course in the 
drama, the work may be given as a part of the regular 
English course. Organize the class into a drama club, 
and give one recitation period a week, or one in two 
weeks, to the club meeting. Let the club resolve itself 
into groups of three or four, each group to be respon- 
sible for a program. Give a list of plays from which 
the selection may be made for class presentation, and 
then give the class a free hand. All details involved 
in arranging dates and programs for the various groups 
can be managed by the club president or chairman so 
that the teacher's time is kept free for conferences. 

The most enjoyable as well as the most desirable 
kind of program is the actual production of the plays, 



198 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

but that is obviously impossible because of the time 
limitation, and the lack of training among the pupils. 
It is encouraging to realize, however, how much may- 
be done in spite of these handicaps. If conditions do 
not permit giving the whole play, one or two scenes can 
be presented, the story having been summarized pre- 
viously for the class by one of the group presenting 
the program. In selecting the scenes to be given, the 
pupils are getting incidentally some knowledge of dra- 
matic construction, for they should always be asked to 
justify their choice. In some plays a scene will be 
chosen for its exposition of the plot, in others for its 
presentation of character, or because it gives atmos- 
phere, or sets forth the ideas of the author. 

The absence of scenery and appropriate costumes is 
no more a drawback than it was in Shakespearean 
times. The inability of pupils to use their voices and 
to enunciate with anything like distinctness, however, 
is a serious obstacle to the success of the work. The 
wittiest lines are easily killed by a poor delivery, and 
the whole point of a scene is lost if the dialogue does 
not "get across.'^ In schools where there is a flourish- 
ing dramatic club, or where there is a general course in 
public speaking this difficulty may not arise, but in 
too many schools the English class affords the only 
opportunity for training pupils to speak clearly and 
correctly. Obviously, the lines of the play must be 
read so that they can be understood, and so that every 
shade of meaning is caught; and certain elementary 
principles of acting and stage directions must be made 
familiar to the class if they are going to do anything 
effective. The proportion of time and effort to be 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 199 

given to this side of the work is an individual problem 
with every teacher, and need not be discussed here. As 
far as possible, though, let the pupils themselves do 
the coaching. In nearly every class there will be sev- 
eral who have had enough experience to enable them 
to help others ; moreover, this is the kind of thing that 
makes the socialization of the English class an actu- 
ality. 

However, the course under discussion is not a course 
in dramatics, but a course in the reading of plays, and 
there are many ways of conducting the work. Certain 
plays are most effectively presented by one pupil, who 
gives the theme, summarizes the plot, and reads bits of 
the dialogue to illustrate and point his explanations. 
"The Pigeon," by Galsworthy, lends itself to this kind 
of treatment. Sometimes the best approach to a play 
is through the author and his ideas, but as a general 
rule the play itself is the thing from the beginning. 

Several of Barrie's plays are ideal for launching the 
project. The plots involve nothing of the unpleasant, 
are never commonplace, and are not over the heads of 
young people. Whoever has felt the delicate charm of 
Barrie's plays will be less tolerant of the dull and the 
vulgar ever after. 'The Admirable Crichton," "Qual- 
ity Street," and "What Every Woman Knows" head 
the list. Of his recent one-act plays, "The Old Lady 
Shows Her Medals" is perhaps the best for school use. 
The one-act play is a most welcome development in 
the drama, and its advantages for this purpose are 
obvious. Of Dunsany's one-act plays, "The Gods of 
the Mountain" and "The Lost Hat" should be on the 
list. A suggestive list for the course follows: 



200 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Barrie^ Sir James: The Admirable Crichton; Quality Street; 

What Every Woman Knows; The Little Minister; Dear 

Brutus; A Kiss for Cinderella; The One-Act Plays. 
Benavente, Jacinto: The Prince Who Kneio Everything in 

Books. 
Bennet and Knobloeh: Milestones. 
Drinkwater, Jolm: Abraham Lincoln. 
Dunsany, Lord: All of the plays published under the title of 

Five Plays; A Night at an Inn. 
France, Anatole: The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife. 
Galsworthy, John : Justice; Strife; The Silver Box; The Pigeon. 
Gates, Eleanor, H. : The Poor Little Rich Girl. 
Gregory, Lady: Spreading the News, and other comedies; The 

Gaol Gate. 
Mackaye, Percy: A Thousand Years Ago; Sanctuary ; George 

Washington. 
Maeterlinck, Maurice: The Bluebird; The Burgomaster of Stile- 

monde. 
Marks, J. P. The Piper; The Wolf of Gubbio. 
Rostand, Edmund: Cyrano de Bergerac; L'Aiglon; The 

Romancers. 
Shaw, George Bernard: You Never Can Tell; Caesar and 

Cleopatra. 
Synge, J. M. : Riders to the Sea. 

Tarkington, Booth, and Wilson, Harry Leon: The Gibson Up- 
right. 
Yeats, W. B. : The Land of Llearfs Desire. 
Zang-will, Israel: The Melting Pot. 

Before the Irish plays are given, some explanation 
should be made of the Celtic Renaissance, and of the 
work of the Irish dramatists and the thing they were 
trying to do. Some of the groups will need help in 
selecting a play, and will w^elcome the informal con- 
ference with the teacher. The importance of these 
conferences cannot be overestimated, for it is in the 
conference that the most valuable teaching may be 



SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS 201 

done. The following books will be useful to teacher 
and pupils for general suggestion : How to See a Play, 
by Richard Burton; The Play of Today, by Elizabeth 
Hunt; The Voice and Spiritual Education, by Profes- 
sor Corson ; and with some classes Another Book 07i the 
Theater, by George Jean Nathan. The last named con- 
tains parodies and burlesques of the cheaper forms of 
modern entertainments, and is commended to the dis- 
cretion of the teacher. 

What results may be expected from such a course? 
In the first place, pupils will read more widely than if 
certain books on the list are prescribed. In the second 
place they get a wider acquaintance with plays through 
the class work in conjunction with their own reading. 
And finally, many of them who have never been fond of 
books acquire the taste for reading plays. 

Anne McCohn 



CHAPTER SIX 

THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 
The Odyssey. Shakespeare. Burke. 

THE ODYSSEY 

If the junior high school is to study intensively 
some one piece of literature, what can be found that is 
best suited to the needs and interests of the boys and 
girls at that stage of their development? All would 
agree, I think, that it should be narrative in form 
rather than expository or wholly descriptive. It should 
be imaginative, full of human interest, varied in its 
appeal. The emphasis must be upon deeds rather than 
thoughts ; the characters should be simple and direct — 
no subtleties of the modern problem story; the style 
should be clear and beautiful. Palmer's translation 
of Homer's Odyssey more than meets all these require- 
ments. It has the charm of narrative — the thrill of the 
super-adventure ; it has the charm of novelty — to many 
it is an introduction to the fascinating world of hero 
and myth; it has the charm of beauty — of color and 
music so wonderfully carried over into prose by Mr. 
Palmer — and, in addition to these, a knowledge of the 
story and the life that it reveals is an important acqui- 
sition as a matter of general education. 

A wonderful feast you say to set before boys and 
girls. But what if they do not seem to enjoy it? Per- 
haps the very wealth of the material which the Odyssey 
offers is in the beginning a stumbling block to its full 

202 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 203 

enjoyment by the pupils. Here, more than in any 
other piece of literature, is the start important. Do 
not permit your students to be overwhelmed at the 
outset and perhaps prejudiced against the story by the 
strangeness of names and subject matter and form. 
Help them a great deal at the beginning. Go with 
them step by step into the realm and spirit of the epic 
romance. It is a long step back from the practical 
world of today in its superficial aspects, but a shorter 
step than we realize in the fanciful realm of the child's 
imagination. Are the great and thrilling adventures of 
Odysseus absurdities to the skeptical youth of today? 
Why, then, does his mind so willingly accept the impos- 
sible achievements of two immature boy scouts of 
twelve years, who, alone and unarmed, round up and 
turn over to the authorities a band of notoriously 
dangerous criminals — or, winging their way across the 
ocean in an airplane of their own manufacture, dis- 
cover the diabolical plot of the German submarine, a 
discovery which saves the whole American navy. The 
deeds of the great Odysseus are not unimaginable; 
nothing is impossible to the spirit of youth. All that 
is difficult is the strange atmosphere, with beauty and 
inspiration substituted for the crude art and manufac- 
tured thrills of the serial escapades. 

The approach to the actual study of the Odyssey will 
differ, does differ, among teachers who have been emi- 
nently successful in awakening in their pupils a real 
pleasure in the book. It may seem advisable to some 
to begin the actual work in the book at some other 
chapter than the first — the ninth, for instance — com- 
ing back later to the first chapter. Others feel that the 



204 * ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

work gains by omitting some chapters altogether. The 
following suggestions are therefore meant to indicate 
just one possible method of approach, and they assume 
that the whole book is to be read in the order in which 
the story was originally told. 

At the outset, recommend that the students who find 
it possible to do so, purchase copies of some good 
standard mythology, Bulfinch's Age of Fable, or Gay- 
ley's Classic Myths. Have some copies of these on 
your desk or conveniently located in the library where 
they may be easily consulted by students who do not 
own copies. Before any assignments of work are made, 
read over with the pupils the pages in the introduction 
which tell of the Trojan War, so that the relation of 
the Odyssey to the Iliad is understood at the beginning. 
Tell them about the Trojan War, and see if you are not 
frequently interrupted by those in the class who would 
like to contribute some stories from it that they know. 
There are always those who know the familiar story of 
the golden apple, and this will lead to a discussion of 
the participation of gods in the affairs of men and to a 
review of any scattering knowledge they may have of 
Greek gods and goddesses. Let the first recita- 
tions be given over to the telling of stories about the 
Trojan War and its heroes, and about the character- 
istic appearances and attributes of the great Olympian 
deities. Pictures will do much to make this work 
vivid, and good prints are easily obtainable. The keep- 
ing of notebooks into which the children may put pic- 
tures as well as interesting items about the story or 
related myths will stimulate interest. At this time 
let the teacher give some simple account of the Greek 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 205 

myths of creation and point out by means of the map 
the ancient Greek's conception of the limits of the 
physical world. The first chapter should be read aloud 
in class, interpretation by the teacher clearing up every 
difficulty as it comes. Much of the reading at first 
should be done by the teacher. This will give the 
pronunciation of many new names and will accustom 
the pupils to the style of the prose, which, at first, on 
account of its inverted sentence, may be a source of 
difficulty to them. Refer them to the pronouncing 
vocabulary at the back for the fixing of their pronunci- 
ation and the spelling of proper names. If in the first 
chapter we can lay the ghost of terror that is roused 
by confronting so many proper nouns of a strange com- 
position, if we can familiarize them with the form of 
the inverted sentence and other marked stylistic fea- 
tures, and if, above all, we can vitalize the action of the 
opening pages, the rest is comparatively plain sailing. 
A very successful means of getting the pupils early into 
the atmosphere of the book has been suggested by Miss 
Emma Bolenius in her '^Council of the Gods," worked 
out in her book Oral English. The assembly which 
Telemachus calls (Chapter II) should always be 
dramatized — not by elaborate costuming nor indeed by 
much acting, but by the reading of parts as one after 
another aligns himself for or against the young Tele- 
machus, who finds himself confronted with great re- 
sponsibilities and a divided allegiance. It will often 
happen that pupils will unconsciously memorize much 
of the parts assigned to them to read. Later on, pupils 
may give more carefully prepared dramatizations.^ In 

T. For dramatized scenes from the Odyssey see Dramatization, 
Simons and Orr. 



200 ENGLISH PKOBLEMS 

addition to this unconscious memorizing — for phrases 
of the Odyssey on account of their rhythm and repe- 
tition will stick — definite memory assignments should 
be given, especially in the early chapters. This will 
do more than anything else to obviate their diffi- 
culties in reading. Let them learn the beautiful 
words, "Saying this, under her feet she bound her 
beautiful sandals, immortal, made of gold, which 
carry her over the flood and over the boundless 
land swift as a breath of wind. She took her 
ponderous spear, tipped with sharp bronze, thick, long, 
and strong, with which she vanquishes the ranks of 
men — of heroes, even — when this daughter of a mighty 
sire is roused against them. Then she went dashing 
down the ridges of Olympus and in the land of Ithaca 
stood at Odysseus' gate, on the threshold of his court.'' 
As they listen again and again to this and similar pas- 
sages, the inverted sentence, the use of epithet, the 
placing of adjective after the verb and the paren- 
thetical interruption — all these they will unconsciously 
adapt themselves to, and not only will they find their 
reading much simpler, but in some cases, a certain 
unconscious imitation will be discernible in their writ- 
ten work. Other passages should be memorized, espe- 
ially those that Homer often repeats. "Now water 
for the hands a servant brought in a beautiful pitcher 
made of gold and poured it out over a silver basin for 
their washing," etc. 

With an understanding of the situation in Ithaca 
and upon Olympus, Chapters III and IV may be read 
more rapidly, and as Telemachus's experiences are told 
the attention of the pupils may be drawn to the many 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 207 

strange customs of the early Greeks: their forms of 
hospitality, their religious sacrifices to the gods, their 
superstitions, and the varying stages of civilization to 
be found in different parts of Greece at that time. 
Telemachus's delight at the wealth of the house of 
Menelaus and his interest in Menelaus's account of 
his travels in the East will throw light upon the history 
of the times. The teacher may point out how recent 
archeological discoveries have established as histoncal 
fact many of the interesting details of this pre-historic 
story. But the interest of the student will naturally 
remain with Telemachus in his search for his father and 
his own safe return. Historical references and a study 
of the customs of the times should be incidental and 
should not be made burdensome to the extent of killing 
the interest in the story. 

The stay of Odysseus with the Phaeacians, his meet- 
ing with Nausicaa, and his account of his adventures 
will carry themselves with the pupils. They will be 
interested in the enthusiasm which the Greek youths 
had for athletic games, and they will see that the love 
of the dance — ^'the merry young men always wanting 
to go to the dance wearing fresh clothes," is as old as 
the Phaeacians. While following the adventures of 
Odysseus and tracing his course upon the map, it may 
be well to let the pupils do a little constructive work in 
imagination. Let them suppose that Odysseus had 
other adventures in addition to those which he de- 
scribes, and let them in the telling of these supple- 
mentary adventures use, as far as possible, the lan- 
guage of the Odyssey. They may try specifically to 
use the inverted sentence, the epithet, the Homeric 



208 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

simile, repetition, etc., but in the main they will 
adopt these forms unconsciously if they have mem- 
orized much and have had much reading aloud. 

The following example of imitative writing based 
on the Odyssey shows to what extent it is possible for 
pupils to catch the spirit as well as the phrasing of 
Palmer's translation. 

ODYSSEUS^S STAY AT ATHENE'S ISLAND 

After leaving the wooded island of Ogygia, wily Odysseus 
sailed for seven days and seven nights without mishap. But on 
the morn of the eighth day, earth-shaking Poseidon raised a great 
storm, gloomj^ and grievous to behold. Four days and nights it 
raged, and then came a breathless calm. Soon the early, rosy- 
fingered Dawn appeared, and hardy Odysseus and his men came in 
sight of a rugged island. Far-seen it was, and high were the 
sky-stretching pines upon it. 

NoAV the goddess, clear-eyed Athene, resolved to show worthy 
Odysseus that he had found favor with a heavenly immortal, and 
so she formed her plans. 

Upon reaching the rugged cliffs Odysseus left the ship and 
spoke to his men thus : "I go to seek the palace of the goddess, 
clear-eyed Athene, who has promised in a dream, which I had last 
night when all was black, to show to me a picture of my dear 
wife, Penelope, my infant son, Telemachus, and my revered 
father, high-born Laertes. Stay you here by our swift black ship.'' 
So he spoke, and they did not disobey. 

Worthy Odysseus passed through the woods, moving with rapid 
stride, until he came to a high-roofed palace, most beautiful to 
behold. Here the goddess, clear-eyed Athene, dwelt when not in 
council on high Olympus. As when a woman waits, joyful and 
expectant, to see her beloved husband as he returns to his native 
land from the cruel wars — so did royal Odysseus wait to see the 
phantom forms of his beloved ones. Soon before him glided the 
form of heedful Penelope. Resolve in her heart there was, never 
to succumb to the evil wishes of the suitors. Next came his father, 
high-born Laertes. Meanly-clad he was, with farm implements in 
his hands. As hardy Odysseus gazed upon this picture, his heart 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 209 

was filled with sorrow, and down his cheeks he let the big tears 
fall. Third and last came princely Telemachus. No longer a 
child he was, but a man tall and stout to behold, and hardy 
Odysseus was glad in his heart to have such a son. 

Then raising his voice he prayed aloud: "0 gi'eat father 
Zeus, son of Kronos, and you, goddess, clear-eyed Athene, hear 
this, my suppliant prayer : Allow me to return to my high-roofed 
hall and native land that I may protect my aged father, guide my 
son in the ways 'of wisdom, and bring trouble upon the haughty 
suitors. This, father Zeus, highest above all rulers, and you, 
goddess, clear-eyed Athene, grant me, and I will offer up the 
choicest of my flocks when I reach my native land." So he 
prayed. And leaving the stately palace he came to his red-cheeked 
ship and set sail. * 

There may be some in the class who will be inter- 
ested in trying to turn some especially beautiful parts 
of the prose translation into blank verse. 

That part of the story which deals with Odysseus's 
return from Phaeacia to Ithaca should be read rapidly 
with only enough question and comment to keep the 
thread of the story clear. The pupil will be anxious 
to hasten on to the part in the story where Odysseus 
metes out to the suitors the doom that was prophe- 
sied for them. 

In the intensive study of any piece of literature 
allowance must be made for a possible drop in the 
sustained interest of the pupils after a number of 
weeks. For this reason if the early work has been 
done carefully enough to assure a clear understanding 
of the story in its various relations, the latter part 
may — in fact, should — always go more quickly, and 
details should be omitted that are not essential, in 
order that the interest in the book may not die out 
before the end is reached. It is hardly ever possible 
nor even desirable to give the same painstaking at- 



210 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

tention to every part of even the greatest master- 
piece. Other elements must enter into our calcula- 
tion, and in the case of the Odyssey, we must at all 
odds clear ourselves of the charge of killing the charm 
of a great story by too great insistence upon detail. 
How shall we relate the study of the Odyssey to the 
life of the boy and girl in the junior high school? 
How shall we link the present with the past? The 
past is the present so far as fundamental human nature 
is concerned, and bravery, resourcefulness, endurance, 
faithfulness are still ideals to be cherished — ideals that 
have been realized in the recent war. If the pupils in 
the Odyssey class are studying ancient history there is 
a splendid opportunity for correlation with their his- 
tory work. If they are not studying ancient history, 
the Odyssey is of even greater value to them because 
it will supply them with many important facts of his- 
torical value from one of the greatest of source books. 
Perhaps a study of the Odyssey may lead the pupil to 
look about him and see to what an extraordinary ex- 
tent modern American life is dependent upon Greek 
tradition. Even the advertisements of business con- 
cerns imply a knowledge on the part of the public of 
Greek mythology. Otherwise why do we have the Ajax 
tire, the Hercules Explosive Co., the Titan Trucks, 
etc.? It might be interesting to let the pupils glance 
through the back of any magazine to see to what 
extent we have adopted the terminology of the Greeks. 
The finest buildings in America, especially the pub- 
lic buildings, are, with few exceptions, modeled along 
the lines of Greek architecture; the decorations in 
many show the Greek influence. All literature after 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 211 

the Greeks is profoundly affected by this great epic 
literature. The pupils' appreciation of Milton, of 
Tennyson, of Keats will depend largely upon how 
much of the rich poetical lore of the past has been 
brought to them through their study of the Odyssey. 
Not only is much of the poetry that the pupil will 
read saturated wdth Greek myth and story, but even 
the newspapers of today, in both article and cartoon, 
constantly reveal the dependence of English thought 
and expression upon the ancient Greeks. When 
Senator Poindexter says that the constitution for the 
League of Nations was presented to the world only 
after it had been long discussed and finally completed, 
when ^'it came forth full panoplied as though born 
from the head of Jove," the allusion and the picture 
are quite outside the vision of one who is unfamiliar 
with Greek mythology. ^^^^ -p g^^^^^ 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bolenius, Emma. The Teaching of Oral English, Chapter VII. 

Bulfinch, Thomas. Age of Fable. 

Gayley, Charles M. Classic Myths. 

Guerber, H. A. Myths of Greece and Rome. 

Gulick, Charles B. Life of the Ancient Greeks. 

Keller, Albert G. Homeric Society. 

Simons, Sarah E. and Oit, Clem I. Dramatization. 

SHAKESPEARE 

A college professor recently said, with an air of 
pride, that he did not even touch upon Shakespeare 
in his course on the development of the English drama. 
'There is too much Shakespeare in our schools," he 
contended. "Give the boys and girls live stuff." 



212 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Is not that just what we are trymg to do when we 
give the pupils in our schools Shakespeare? Cannot 
the study of Shakespeare be made ''live stuff" just as 
easily as the study of Shaw or Galsworthy? It is to 
be hoped that the nation-wide celebration of 1916 in 
honor of Shakespeare did quicken interest to a slight 
degree, at least, in things Shakespearean. Let us as- 
sume, at any rate, that it did, and let us do our 
Shakespearean bit in every one of the years of both 
junior and senior high school to develop in our pupils 
a love of Shakespeare. 

Reading and presentation in classroom or assembly 
hall of scenes from Shakespeare's plays can hardly fail 
to interest pupils. And why not make a Shake- 
spearean festival as well as the spring-meet a yearly 
event in the school annals? Many Shakespearean 
fetes were given in 1916 by schools all over the country. 
Have you heard of many Shakespearean festivals given 
by schools siiice 1916? One of the educational pur- 
poses of the widespread Shakespearean activity of the 
tercentenary was to quicken into life the study of 
Shakespeare. It is not too late yet. Do not let the 
spark of interest then aroused be extinguished. It is 
still smoldering and can be fanned into flame, if we 
teachers will do our part in helping to create and de- 
velop a love of the master dramatist. 

/. 1 71 the Junior High School 

According to Mr. Chubb, introductory work on 
Shakespeare in every year of the high school should 
consist of the teacher's reading the play aloud, with 
minimum comment, to the class. He quotes Professor 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 213 

Corson as citing Sir Henry Taylor as authority for the 
statement that the reading of Shakespeare to boys and 
girls carries with it "sl deeper cultivation than anything 
else which can be done to cultivate them.'' Certainly 
in the junior high school the plays should be read 
aloud in class in character, the teacher often taking 
part. No text study should be made; much memoriz- 
ing should be done; and frequent classroom dramati- 
zations should be given during the course of the study. 
The teacher should play the part of dictionary and 
reference book, clearing up obscure passages and ex- 
plaining strange words and allusions. The object of 
the junior high-school Shakespeare study is to create 
a love of the poet and arouse a desire to learn the 
lines and act out the parts and finally to see the play 
acted when possible. This cannot be done by formal 
work. It can be done only by hearing the lines, learn- 
ing miany of them, and acting out scenes frequently. 
Stich procedure has brought results in certain schools; 
it is worth trying in all classes. 

The following plays are suggested for classroom 
study in the junior high school: in the seventh year, 
A Midsummer Night's Dream; in the eighth, Julius 
Caesar; and in the ninth, As You Like It. 

II. In the Senior High School 

No epoch is more dramatic than Shakespeare's 
epoch; no times lend themselves more readily to 
dramatization than the times of Elizabeth. Let the 
pupils read about the age, the theaters, the Mermaid 
Tavern, the tales of adventure brought back from the 
West. Let them become acquainted with the per- 



214 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

sonalities of the period. Then let them present these 
personalities before the class, under certain circum- 
stances, in various picturesque settings. Let them 
dramatize the age of Shakespeare, and you will give 
them aids which surely make 'live stuff" of the plays 
they read and study. We want the scenes and places 
in Shakespeare's life and plays to become living 
realities to the boys and girls. We want the pupils to 
become familiar with Stratford and London; with the 
Swan and the Globe ; with the manner of giving a play 
in Shakespeare's day; with the people among whom 
the poet moved; with the Mermaid Tavern and its 
frequenters; with the dress and architecture and ways 
of the age. The library cannot furnish too many illus- 
trated books, magazine articles, and lantern slides for 
our purposes. These will give the pupil the raw ma- 
terial for his dramatizations, will excite the impulse 
to the exercise of the creative faculty. Encourage the 
pupils in all years to dramatize freely scenes from the 
life and times of Shakespeare and to act these drama- 
tizations before their classmates. Let them all in 
imagination become citizens of Shakespeare's day and 
age. 

Apropos of the dramatization by the pupils of scenes 
from the life of Shakespeare a few possibilities are sug- 
gested: A domestic scene in Shakespeare's life at 
Stratford, in the early days; one in later life (see 
Howells's Seen and Unseen in Stratford for material) ; 
a meeting between Bacon and Shakespeare to show 
that Bacon would not have written Shakespeare's plays 
if he could have done so (see Howells's Seen and 
Unseen in Stratford and Noyes's Tales of the Mermaid 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 215 

Tavern for material) ; a scene in London before the 
production of a certain play, ending with the dramatic 
summoning of the poet before Elizabeth to give a per- 
formance. For atmosphere here see Mrs. Louise 
Beecher Chancellor's The Players of London. 

Many books come to mind immediately from which 
matter might be culled for such purposes: Traill's 
Social England; Jenks's In the Days of Shakespeare; 
Symonds's Shakespeare's Predecessors in the English 
Drama; Lee's Life of William Shakespeare ; Wendell's 
William Shakespeare ; Collier's Memoirs of the Prin- 
cipal Actors in the Plays of Shakespeare ; Alexander's 
Autobiography of Shakespeare; Harris's The Wan 
Shakespeare and His Tragic Life; Johnson's Shake- 
speare and His Critics; Sherman's What Is Shake- 
speare? ; ,W^^ce's New Shakespearean Discoveries ; 
Beeching's William Shakespeare, Player, Playmaker, 
and Poet. 

The following dramatization based on Alfred Noyes's 
Tales of the Mermaid Tavern and Louise Beecher 
Chancellor's The Players of London is suggested for 
classroom production by pupil players: 

1. Based on Tales of the Mermaid Tavern 

A. Prolog-iie (giving) 
1. The Situation 
) 2. The Description of Inn 

3. The Description of Characters 

(This requires some cutting and a very slight readjustment of 
lines in the Introduction.) 

A dream — three hundred years ago 

Of London, City of the Clouds — 

A twisted street, a little narrow street, 



21G ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

The rough wet cobbles gleaming far away 
Like opals, where it ended on the sky, 
And overhead the darkly smiling face 
Of that old wizard inn of raullioned panes 
And crazy beams and overhanging eaves. 
The Mermaid with its sign-bofird quaint, 
Where that white-breasted siren of the sea 
Curled her moon-silvered tail among such rocks 
As never in the merriest seaman's tale 
Broke the blue-bliss of fabulous lagoons 
Beyond the Spanish Main. 

And through the dream, 
Even as I stood and listened, came a sound 
Of clashing wine-cujis ; then a deep-voiced song 
Made the old tniibers of the Mermaid Inn 
Shake as a galleon shakes in a gale of wind 
When she rolls glorying through the Ocean-sea. 

And all at once there swaggered down the street 

A figure like foot-feathered Mercury — 

Tall, straight, and splendid as a sunset cloud 

Clad in a crimson doublet and trunk-hose, 

A rapier at his side; over his arm 

He swings a gorgeous murrey-colored cloak 

Of Ciprus velvet, caked and smeared with mud .... 

B. At the sign of the Mermaid 

Characters: Shakespeare; Bacon; Spenser; Mar- 
lowe; Ben Jonson; Michael Drayton. 
Scene: Shakespeare and Spenser discovered look- 
ing over the manuscript of the Faerie Queen; 
Jonson seated on the settle humming "Drink 
to me only with thine eyes," between sips of 
malmsey; Bacon seated comfortably before the 
fire. 

Purpose: to bring out Bacon's essentially prosaic 
nature. (Adapted from Black Bill's Honey 
Moon.) 

C. For the Sake of Robert Greene, Player. 

Characters: Ben Jonson; Kit Marlowe; Will 
Shakespeare ; Sir Walter Raleigh ; Master Rich- 
ard Bame, a Puritan; a Company of Players, 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 217 

Scene: Jonson and Marlowe discovered discuss- 
ing Shakespeare^s Venus and Adonis, over 
their wine. Enter the Puritan, Bame. His 
intent is to cast reproach and ignominy on Rob- 
ert Greene because of the manner of his death. 
Enter, later, Shakespeare and the others. They 
all unite in playing a trick on Master Bame by 
wliich his silence is purchased and his true 
character revealed. 

Purpose : to show the loyalty of the Mermaid group 
one to the other, and especially to show the 
largeness of soul of Shakespeare. 
D. A May-Day Frolic at the Mermaid. 

Characters: the Morris Dancers; Sir Fool (Will 
Kemp, the Player) ; Friar Tuck (Ben Jon- 
son) ; Poets and Players. 

Scene: A gay procession of merry-makers dis- 
covered entering the Mermaid and taking pos- 
session. Their revels. Songs and dances. 

Purpose : to present a characteristic May-Day cele- 
bration of the age. (Adapted from A Com- 
panion of a Blile.) 
1 r. Based on Mrs. Chancellor's The Players of London. 

The First Performance of Romeo and Juliet by Lord 
Hundson's Players. 

Act I. 
The Rehearsal 

Characters: Master Will Shakespeare; Philip Condell; the 
Two Burbages; Messenger; Other Players. 

Scene : Court yard in front of Philip Condell's loggings. 
Shakespeare discovered walking up and down im- 
patiently. Richard Burbage enters and informs 
Shakespeare that Philip Condell, who is to play the 
part of Juliet in the new play, Romeo and Juliet, 
which is to be performed before the Queen on the 
occasion of the 37th anniversary of her reign, is so 
ill that he cannot take part. Shakespeare orders Bur- 
bage to go up and bring him down, for he must 
play, he insists— and he dispatches a messenger to 
one John Florio, an Italian physician, for a healing 



218 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

potion. Burbage goes up and after a few minutes 
reappears carrying the sick boy in his arms. They 
give him wine, and he is quickly revived. The re- 
hearsal begins. Though somewhat puzzled as to cues, 
exits, and entrances Philip delivers his lines splendidly. 
The balcony scene is rehearsed. Comments are made 
by Shakespeare and the others. Philip is treated wit^li 
great care and put in a sedan chair; the procession 
of players then moves off to Whitehall, where they are 
to play before the Queen. 

Act IL 
Assembling of the Actors. 

Scene I: Assembling of the actors, in which Shakespeare 
questions Philip curiously and makes a discovery 
(Philip's twin sister has come in his stead). Place: 
anteroom before the great hall. The Earl of South- 
ampton arrives and joins in the conversation. The 
Players assemble one by one. 

Scene II: The End of the Play. 

The court is assembled, the epilogue delivered, and 
the Players file in procession before the Queen. She 
gives a word of commendation to them and commis- 
sions Master Will to write a comedy before the year 
is by, so that the tears shed over the sad tale of the 
lovers shall be forgot in laughter . . . laughter in- 
duced by Falstaff. 

Scene III. After the Play — the Discovery. 

The actors are seated around a table, feasting. Sud- 
denly Philip enters and denounces his sister for her 
act of joining the Players. As he reviles her, her 
Puritan lover enters, champions her act, and carries 
her off. Shakespeare makes peace. 



And what shall we do with the plays themselves? 
Why not reduce our text study of Shakespeare in the 
senior as well as in the junior high school to the 
minimum essential which is the sum of — one might 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 21 n 

almost say nothing — and let our pupils devote all their 
time to learning Shakespeare's lines and reciting them 
in character before their classmates? Let the teacher 
act as interpreter of difficult passages, and give freely 
to the pupils. If all the time usually given to careful 
exegesis of the text were devoted to memorizing beau- 
tiful passages from the plays, what a store of treasures 
for the future would be amassed! Is not the experi- 
ment worth trying? And then, as before suggested, 
a Shakespearean festival in the open might be cele- 
brated with song and dance and fairy revels, with 
pomp and antique pageantry. 

A remarkable thing happens in the case of pupils 
learning Shakespeare's lines. At first there is difficulty 
owing to the strangeness of blank verse. But once the 
pupils get the swing of it, Shakespeare does the rest. 
Shakespeare has done more for the actor than any 
other dramatist. This is the testimony of all teachers 
who have trained pupils for Shakespearean per- 
formances. 

The following list is suggested for study, which 
means class reading and classroom presentation: In 
the tenth year. Twelfth Night; in the eleventh, Henry 
V ; and in the twelfth year, Macbeth. 

The collateral reading may be assigned by groups, 
each group deciding to take a certain part of the play 
when only one play is required, certain plays and parts 
of plays when more plays than one are required. If 
the group prefers to report on a play that is not listed, 
it should be its privilege to do so. Each group should 
elect a leader who should be responsible for the report 
to the class. A part, at least, of such report should 



220 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

feature the acting of scenes or portions of scenes 
from the plays chosen before the pupils of the class. 
The explanation necessary for the understanding of 
the audience may be made by a Chorus. For sugges- 
tions here the pupils may be referred to the part of 
the Chorus in Henry V. They might, some of them, 
even essay blank verse for this activity. 

Dramatization by the pupils of scenes in the life 
and plays of Shakespeare will do more to visualize the 
age and to vitalize the man than anything else could 
do. The study of the plays by means of the "acting" 
method will make Shakespeare a living, breathing per- 
sonality in the experience of the student. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Suggest scenes from plays of Shakespeare suitable for 
classroom presentation. 

2. Suggest scenes from the story of Shakespeare's life suitable 
for classroom dramatization. 

3. Discuss the value of having the plays read aloud in class. 

4. Make a list of scenes from various plays which might be 
knit together by prologue, chorus, and epilogue into an appropri- 
ate spring Shakespeare festival. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Abbott, Allan. "School Productions of Shakespeare's Plays" in 

Shakespearean Studies. 
Chubb, P. The Teaching of English, page 287. 
Chubb, P., Editor. The Shakespeare Tercentenary, prepared by 

the Drama League of America. 
Gilmore, A. H. King Shakespeare, A Masque of Praise for the 

Shakespeare Tercentenary. 
Mackaye, P. Caliban, Shakespeare Tercentenary Celebration. 

Presented in New York. 
Simons, S. E. jX Shakespeare Festival Presented by the High 

Schools of Washington, D. C. 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 221 

The English Journal: 

Booth, Julia E. The Teaching of Shakespeare, April, 1920. 
Brookins, Julia, L. C. ^'A Midsummer Night's Dream in the 

Junior High School," October, 1918. 
Graves, I. "A Plan for Reading A Midsummer Night's 

Dream/' June, 1915. 
FitzGerald, Ellen. ^'Shakespeare in the Elementary School," 

June, 1914. 
Stratton, C. "A Shakespeare Festival in Time of War," 

November, 1916. 
The Reorganization Bulletin, page 70. 



BURKE 

Burke has come into his own through the war. As 
Enghshmen and Americans, "descendants of EngUsh- 
men," stood shoulder to shoulder in the great war for 
liberty, we realized, as never before, what John Fiske 
meant when he said, "It is quite wrong and misleading, 
therefore, to remember the Revolutionary War as a 
struggle between the British people and the American 
people. It was a struggle between two hostile prin- 
ciples, each of which was represented in both coun- 
tries. In winning the good fight, our forefathers won 
a victory for England as well as for America." It is 
through a study of the words of Burke, "that foremost 
friend of America," that boys and girls may best 
understand what are those principles of liberty which 
our forefathers won for us, and which we as a nation 
and the other allied nations have been fighting to pre- 
serve for all peoples. 

Burke's Speech on Conciliation has become so sig- 
nificant in these days that an effort to bring it into line 
with the life of the times is unnecessary. It is the life 



222 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

of the time — the old struggle between autocracy and 
constitutional liberty. Would it be possible to sug- 
gest topics of more burning interest today than the 
relation of an empire to its colonies, the right of self- 
determination in small nations, the dangers of a policy 
of repression? And yet the vital interest in the speech 
may be killed if the approach and method are wrong. 
Burke is not easy reading for high-school students, 
and, in these days, when classes are socialized, and the 
study of literature is made attractive by every possible 
device of picture, pageant, and play, the problem of 
holding the attention of pupils to the long and arduous 
analysis of such abstract reading as Burke's speech, 
may offer some real difficulties. 

The very worst way in which to approach the speech 
is by beginning with an analytical outline of it. Never 
must it be forgotten that this was a delivered speech, 
at a crisis of affairs so intense that no period of our 
history can compare with it. That period the pupils 
should be acquainted with before they begin to read 
the speech. The situation in Europe can best be 
sketched briefly by the teacher. The pupils in the 
American history class will be easily able to con- 
tribute the essential facts of the development of a 
spirit of resistance in the colonies and the immediate 
causes leading to the Revolution. Not too much time 
should be spent on historical preliminaries. The essen- 
tial facts can be readily grouped under (1) the relation 
between England and the American colonies before 
1760, (2) the change in England's policy at that time 
and the reasons for it, (3) the important events be- 
tween 1760 and Burke's Speech. The best way 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 223 

to get the class into the spirit of the time is through 
class debates on the Stamp Act, the Boston Port Bill, 
and other questions of the time. In this way they 
will learn the necessary historical facts and get a feel- 
ing for the situation. Such debates at the beginning 
of the work will also serve the purpose of reviewing 
the form of the argumentative brief, and thus facilitate 
the analysis of the speech. A reading of Chatham's 
speech, ''On the Right to Tax America," will be helpful 
at this time, as will, also, parts of Burke's Speech on 
American Taxation. 

While the class is debating and studying the period, 
let them read the speech through once at home. They 
will not understand it all, but the main outlines will be 
clear, and as they begin to study more specifically they 
will be able to see the relation of each part to the pur- 
pose of the whole. Special topics on the Parliament of 
Burke's time, on the man and his period, will help to 
create interest. It will be helpful also at this time to 
call attention to certain differences between English 
and American forms of government, such as the un- 
written constitution of England as contrasted with our 
very definite document, the powers of the ministry and 
its relation to Parliament as contrasted with the rela- 
tions of our executive and law-making departments. 

When the study of the speech itself begins, do not 
make the mistake of outlining it to death. Much of 
it should be read aloud and made the subject of in- 
formal discussion. Since the pupils have read the 
speech as a whole, it is desirable to block out the main 
divisions before outlining in detail. Then choose cer- 
tain parts which are especially fine examples of Burke's 



224 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

analytical powers, and let the pupils work these out 
very carefully. These may be : a thorough analysis of 
such a paragraph of close thought as the discussion of 
the first cause of the fierce spirit of liberty; a short 
brief of the unit in which Burke establishes that it is 
impracticable and inexpedient to prosecute the spirit 
as criminal; his handling of the four examples; the 
analysis of Lord North's plan, etc. Burke's Speech 
offers more splendid opportunities for outlining than 
any other masterpiece. That is no reason why one 
should take all the opportunities offered at the ex- 
pense of crowding out other benefits which may be 
gained from a study of the speech. Do not make a 
long written brief of the whole speech. This tends to 
become mechanical, and in the end a mere feat of 
memory. Such an outline they may get from any text- 
book. "It is a weed that grows in any soil." Sub- 
stitute instead an oral brief for all except those units 
which you have selected for detailed work. In this 
way the students may give from day to day an outline 
of the main thoughts of the speech, in words that 
change as often as the analysis is given. This will 
focus their attention upon Burke's line of argument 
rather than upon any particular wording of it. If 
Burke's speech has a fault it is in its minuteness and 
subtlety. "He went on refining while they thought 
of dining." Let us see to it that the fault if it exists 
is corrected, not exaggerated by our methods of 
teaching. 

The mental pabulum which Burke's Speech offers is 
the best antidote for the grasshopper type of mind that 
nibbles at everything and understands nothing. To 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 225 

inspire the student with an appreciation of the mas- 
terly skill of handling such a sustained and elaborate 
composition is to set for him a standard of unity in 
multiplicity that he can get nowhere else. For there 
is ''reigning throughout the whole a massive unity of 
design like that of a great cathedral, whatever may be 
the intricacy of its design." The pupil may learn to 
knpw the beauty of this great cathedral and to feel its 
inspiration if the aisles are lighted for him and his eyes 
are directed toward its great columns and arches as 
well as toward its inimitable traceries. 

To get the meaning of Burke there must be a very 
definite study of words. Frequent short vocabulary 
tests should be given at the beginning of recitation 
periods on new assignments. These tests should some- 
times be in the form of sentences using new or un- 
usual words in their correct meaning. Encourage the 
pupils when they are giving the oral brief to use 
Burke's own words in so far as they naturally suggest 
themselves. This will familiarize them unconsciously 
with their meaning, and thus through oral imitation 
improve their own vocabularies. 

Written imitations of Burke are easily practicable, 
especially of certain units that have marked stylistic 
qualities. A favorite paragraph for imitation is the one 
beginning, 'The proposition is peace.'^ Others which 
have been successfully imitated are those dealing with 
his objection to force and his comparison of his own 
plan with that of Lord North. The following imita- 
tion shows how the student has caught not only Burke's 
method of presentation but his manner and spirit as 
well. 



226 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

MISS LYDIA PINKHURST^S SPEECH ON MOVING HER 

RESOLUTION FOR GRANTING WOMAN THE RIGHT 

TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE IN LEAP YEAR 



Delivered in the House of Commons, 
January 10, 1980 

Madam Speaker: 

I trust that notwithstanding the bills already in hand for 
"Limiting and Restricting the Privileges of Husbands/' for "In- 
creasing the Tax on Bachelors," and "Lowering the Tariff on 
Lace, Ribbons, and Cosmetics," you will hear patiently a few 
words I have to say before laying on the table a resolution of 
great and immediate importance. With these vast issues in hand 
you may deem it unwise to consider any new project and prefer 
that it be defeiTed to a later date. Being myself, like most of 
my sex, inclined to procrastination, I would gladly wait for a 
more favorable occasion, but. Madam, ten of the precious 366 
days are already gone, and this is a leap-year proposition. Alas, 
another leap year will find us all four years older. Delay is 
impossible! The present is the time to act! 

Surely this is an awful subject, for upon it hangs the destiny 
of woman. Is my statement overdrawn ? No ! To woman mar- 
riage is destiny. 

Being myself unmarried, there may be some present who do not 
think me qualified to speak on this subject. If such there be, I 
proudly confess that I have declined no less than six proposals, 
and might have led on other men had I not desired to spare their 
feelings. Madam, I have unselfishly sacrificed myself that I 
might better serve my country. Will you not grant indulgence 
toward human frailty if I pause to wipe away a tear? 

When I first had the honor of a seat in this house, you were 
considering a bill "To Grant Women the Sole Right to Apply for 
Divorce." At that period I took pains to instruct myself in all 
matters pertaining to courtship, marriage, and divorce that I 
might better understand the subject. 

In this posture things stood until one week ago, when I re- 
ceived a letter from one of my constituents which so touched 
and grieved me that I nerved myself to speak. The pitiful 
appeal of this young girl read as follows: 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 227 

"Dear Miss Pinkhurst: 

"I have known a young man for nearly five years. He is very 
good to me, and I think he loves me, but he has never spoken of 
marriage. He calls nearly every night, and people think we 
are engaged. I cannot ask him if he intends to marry me. 
What am I to do? 

"Your faithful constituent, 

Does not the plight of this poor girl stir you to anger f If 
this is the fate of the youth of the land, the fate of the girl 
possessed of every charm, what may we expect of those in whom 
wisdom and experience have supplanted beauty? Does not this 
terrifying aspect of the situation make it evident to a discern- 
ment even duller than yours that no pinched, occasional system 
will be adequate? 

I perceive by the expression of some ladies present that they 
ask, "Why not do as our mothers did?" What did our mothers 
do? Unfortunately there is a lack of statistics on this point. I 
have asked an aged widow how she brought about the crisis. 
She says, "I didn't have a real proposal. I just stepped on a 
snake when I was out walking with John." In addition to lier 
statement, I find in a back number of our great international 
publication, The Ladies Home Magazine, the following advice by 
one who signs herself, "An Experienced Sweetheart" : "I do not 
recommend any unwomanly tactics, quite the contrary. A look, a 
word, a touch, wall suffice if he is responsive; if not, there will 
be no harm done, for he will guess nothing." 

Excellent advice for our mothers, doubtless, but worse than use- 
less for us. We are no longer afraid of snakes. We have dis- 
sected them in the laboratory and preserved them in alcohol. 
Are we so credulous as to believe in the power of a look, a word, 
or a touch ? No ! With the present high cost of living the most 
beguiling look, the most endearing words, and the most sympa- 
thetic touch would be of no avail. Any plan which is to be 
received by us wdth favor, must be suited to the woman of today, 
to her great and marvelous advancement. 

Madam Speaker, I cannot prevail upon myself to hurry over 
this great consideration. Sixty-eight years ago no force under 
heaven would have been a power to persuade you that within the 
short period of the life of man w^e should rise to our present 
glory. All the sanguine credulity of youth would not have con- 



228 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

vinced us that woman who then served for little more than to 
amuse her husband, should some day rule him. 

Pardon me, if turning from such thoughts, I resume my argu- 
ment once more. 

My proposition is marriage. Not marriage through the medium 
of a matrimonial agency, not marriage to be hunted through the 
labyrinth of intricate and endless devices. It is simple marriage, 
proposed by the woman in an open and direct manner. 

Fortunately in framing my resolution I am not obliged to tax 
my own unproductive invention. I am not even obliged to go to 
the rich treasury of fiction for imaginary instances in which 
women have proposed. It is before me ; it is at my feet. I have 
here an ancient act of Parliament passed in the year 1288. 

"It is statut and ordaint that during the reign of his maist 
blessit Mageste for ilk yeare knowne as lepe yeare, ilke mayden 
of botbe highe and lowe estait shall hae liberte to bespeake ye 
man she likes, albeit he refuses to talk her to be his layful wyfe 
he shall be mulcted in ye sum ane pundes or less as his estait may 
be; except and awis gif he can make it appeare he is betrothed 
to ane other woman he shall be free." 

It was also an unwritten law of leap year that if a man should 
decline a proposal he should soften the disappointment by pre- 
senting to the unsuccessful suitor a silk dress. 

It is my purpose, Madam, to cast these same ancient laws into 
the language of our times. The resolution which I lay before 
you is: 

Resolved, That on every fourth year, known as leap year, any 
spinster shall be allowed to offer herself in marriage to the man 
she loves, and if he refuses to make her his lawful wife he shall 
present to her a silk dress, except it be publicly known that he is 
already engaged to another woman. 

With this law in effect any woman who cannot satisfy her 
affections may replenish her wardrobe. 

For the sake of the "great unasked," for the sake of that most 
miserable of all creatures, a bashful man, I implore you to look 
with favor upon this resolution. 

There should be much reading aloud of Burke, for 
the appeal of the speech will be lost unless it is accom- 
panied by the appropriate tone, whether it be biting 
irony or a high moral appeal. It is only by memorizing 



THE TEACHING OF CERTAIN CLASSICS 229 

some of the beautiful and more emotional passages that 
the poetical quality of his prose and the cadences of 
his style can be fully appreciated. When boys and 
girls repeat that passage which is concluded with these 
words, ''Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the 
activity of France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity 
of English enterprise, ever carried this niost perilous 
mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has 
been pushed by this most recent people," they not 
only respond to the rhythm of the lines, but thrill w^ith 
patriotic fervor to that high praise of American spirit. 

There is another side to the study of Burke which 
may, perhaps, be best touched upon incidentally, but 
which, especially in these days of reconstruction must 
not be overlooked — Burke's essentially high and noble 
ideals. Political conditions have changed, and yet the 
philosophical truths which he utters are universal in 
their application, and the high ideal to which he sum- 
mons the English people in his peroration is not un- 
like the words of our ow^n President when he strikes 
the keynote of idealism in behalf of the interests of all 
the peoples of the earth, small nations as well as great. 
''Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wis- 
dom," is a statement not without meaning today. 
Augustine Birrel has said, "Wordsworth has been 
called the high priest of Nature. Burke may be called 
the high priest of order — a lover of settled ways, of 
justice, of peace and security." Burke was not only 
a lover of law and order but a defender of the spirit of 
freedom, of liberty under the law — an invaluable ideal 
for young America in these times. 

Let it not be objected that Burke's Speech is too 
abstract or too far-removed in interest from the lives 



230 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

of boys and girls. If training in thoroughness, appre- 
ciation of order and beauty, and the recognition of 
high pohtical ideals and moral principles are desirable 
pedagogic results, the study of Burke may well be 
made not an ordeal but an inspiration. 

Emily F. Sleman 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

GENERAL REFERENCES 

Fiske, John. The American Revolution, Volume I, pages 1-120. 
Hart, A. B. Essentials of American History, Period 1760-1775, 

Chapter IX, pages 135-164. 
Hart, A. B, The For^nation of the Union, Chapter III. 
Howard, George Elliott. Preliminaries of the Revolution, 1763- 

1775. 
Lecky, William E. H. The American Revolution (edited by 

Woodbiim), pages 1-200. 
Van Tyne, C. H. The American Revolution, Chapter I. 
Ward, C. H. Burke's Speech on Conciliation, with Collateral 

Readings. 

SPECIAL DEBATE REFERENCES 

The Stamp Act: 

Hart's American History As Told by Contemporaries, Volume 

II, pages 394-411. 
Howard's Preliminaries, pages 103, 104, 115, 118, 124. 
Lecky's American Revolution, pages 87, 89, 105, 488, 489. 
The Revenue Controversy; 

Hart's American History As Told by Contemporaries, Volume 

II, pages 413-434. 
Hart's Essentials of American History, page 105. 
Howard's Preliminaries, pages 42-44, 48-49, 52-53. 
The Boston Port Bill : 

Burke's Speech on Conciliation, with Collateral Readings, 

edited by C. H. Ward. 
Hart's American History Told by Contemporaries, Volume 

II, pages 434-454. 
Howard's Preliminaries, pages 259-280. 
Lecky's American Revolullon, pages 163-168, 173-179. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL HINTS AND GENERAL 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL HINTS 

Every teacher of English is urged to become a reader 
of each of the following current publications on the 
teaching of English: The English Journal, published 
monthly by the National Council of Teachers of Eng- 
lish under the editorship of Mr. James Fleming Hosic 
of Chicago; The English Leaflet, sl monthly published 
by the New England Association of Teachers of En- 
glish^ secretary- treasurer, Mr. A. B. de Mille of Mil- 
ton, Massachusetts; and the monthly Bulletin of the 
Illinois Association of Teachers of English, edited by 
H. G. Paul, Urbana, Illinois. There is no better text- 
book on the teaching of English than the files up to 
date of these three journals. No English teacher, in- 
deed, can afford to miss the live discussions they 
contain from month to month. 

The pamphlet. Reorganization of English in Sec- 
ondary Schools, compiled by a committee of the 
National Council of Teachers of English under the 
editorship of ]\Ir, Hosic and published by the Bureau 
of Education is, perhaps, the most helpful document 
yet issued for the teacher of English in planning 
courses and solving problems that arise from day to 
day. It can be procured by sending a request and 
twenty cents to the Superintendent of Public Docu- 
ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 

Certain recent books on the teaching of English 

231 



232 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

should be especially noted. They are: What Is Eng- 
lish? by C. H. Ward; English Composition As a Social 
Problem by Sterling Andrus Leonard; The Teaching 
of English in the Secondary School by Charles Swain 
Thomas; The Teaching of Oral English and The 
Teaching of Literature in the Grammar Grades and 
High School, both by Emma Miller Bolenius. 

And the debt we owe to those pioneers in our sub- 
ject, Mr. Percival Chubb, Mr. George Rice Carpenter, 
Mr. Franklin T. Baker, and Mr. Fred Newton Scott 
should not be forgotten. No bibliography on the 
teaching of English is complete without reference to 
the texts of these authors: The Teaching of English 
by Percival Chubb and The Teaching of English by 
Carpenter, Baker, and Scott. They form the basis 
of all later discussions of the subject. 

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 

1. Discuss "accuracy first" as treated by Mr. Ward. 

2. Discuss the "club idea" in the teaching of English as sug- 
gested by Mr. Leonard. 

3. Sum up briefly the special contributions of (1) Leonard and 
(2) Ward to the subject of teaching English composition. 

4. Contrast their methods and style of presenting a problem. 

5. Sum up briefly the special contributions of (1) Bolenius 
and (2) Thomas to the subject of teaching literature. 

6. Contrast their methods of presentation. 

7. Make a brief appraisal of the pamphlet, Reorganization of 
English in Secondary Schools, 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



GENERAL METHOD 



Brown, John Franklin. The American High School. The Mac- 
inillan Co. 

Colvin, Stephen S. An Introduction to High-School Teaching 
(Chapter XV^ "The Question as a Method of Instruction"; 
Chapter XVII, "Supervised Study"). The Learning Process. 
The Macmillan Co. 

Dean, Arthur. Our Schools in War Time and After. Ginn and 
Co. 

Dewej'^, J. Democracy and Education. The Macmillan Co. 

Emerson, Mabel I. The Ev>oliition of the Educational Ideal. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Hall-Quest, A. L. Supervised Study. The Macmillan Co. 

Hollister, H. A. High-School Administration; High-School and 
Class Management. D. C. Heath and Co. 

Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secoyidary Education (Chapter 
on "The Place of English in the Program of Studies"). 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Johnston, Charles H. The Modern High School (Chapter XI, 
"Supervised Study"; Chapter XIX, "Journalism"). High- 
School Education (Chapter VIII, "Socialized High School," 
and Chapter X, "English"). Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Judd, C. H. The Psychology of High-School Subjects . Ginn 
and Co. 

Kilpatriek, V. E. Departmental Teaching in Elementary Schools. 
The Macmillan Co. 

Palmer, G. H. The Ideal Teacher. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools (Chapter 
" XX, "The Art of Questioning"; Chapter XVI, "Supervised. 
Study"; Chapter XXVI, "Cooperation in the. Teaching of 
' English"). Ginn and Co. 

233 



234 ENGLISH PROBLEMS 

Pearson, Francis. The Vitalized School. The Maemillan Co. 
Puffer, J. Adams. Vocational Guidance. Rand, McNally & Co. 
Snedden, D. Problems of Secondary Education. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH COMPOSITION 

Bolenius, E. M. The Teaching of Oral English. J. B. Lippincott 
Co. 

Brown, Rollo. Hoiv the French Boy Learns to Write. Harvard 
University Press. 

Campag-nac, E. T. Teaching of Composition. Houghton Mifflin 
Co. 

Carpenter, Baker, and Scott. The Teaching of English. Long- 
mans, Green, & Co. 

Chubb, Percival. The Teaching of English. The Maemillan Co. 

Colby, J. Rose. Shall the Courses in Composition and Literature 
Be Divided? Yes. Bulletin of Illinois A. T. E., March 15, 
1916. 

Hosic, J. F. (Compiler). Reorganization of English in Secon- 
dary Schools. (Report by the National Joint Committee on 
English, N. E. A. and N. C. T. E.) Bulletin, 1917, No. 2, 
Department of Interior, Bureau of Education. 

Klapper, P. The Teaching of English in Elementary Schools. 
J). Appleton & Co. 

Leonard, S. A. English Composition As a Social Prohlem. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Lewis, Calvin L. American Speech. Scott, Foresman and Co. 

Mahoney, J. J. Standards in English. World Book Co., Yonkers- 
on-the-Hudson. 

Thomas, Charles Swain. The Teaching of English in the Secon- 
dary School. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Ward, C. H. What Is English? Scott, Foresman and Co. 

s 

THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE 

Bolenius, E. M. The Teaching of Literature in the Grammar 
Grades arid High School. Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Bates, Arlo. Talks on the Teaching of Literature. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Carpenter, Baker, and Scott. The Teaching of English. Long- 
mans, Green & Co. 



y 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 235 

Chubb, P. The Teaching of English. Festivals and Plays in 
School and Elsewhere. The Shakespeare Tercentenary. The 
Macniillan Co. 

Clarke, S. H. hiterpretation of the Printed Page. How to 
Teach Reading. Row, Peterson Co. 

Colbv, J. Rose. Literature and Life in the School. Houghton 
Mifflin Co. 

Corson, Hiram. The Voice and Spiritual Education; The Aims 
of Literary Study. The Macmillan Co. 

Fairchild, A. H. R. The Teaching of Poetry in the High School. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Haliburton and Smith. Teaching Poetry in the Grades. Hough- 
ton Miffln Co. 

Hosic, J. F. (Compiler). Reorganisation of English in Secondary 
Schools. Bulletin, 1917, No. 2, Bureau of Education, Super- 
intendent of Public Documents, Government Printing Office. 

Smith, C. Alphonso. What Can Literature Do for Mef Double- 
day, Page and Co. 

Thomas, C. S. The Teaching of English in the Secondary School. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Ward, C. H. Burke's Speech on Conciliation, with Collateral 
Readings. Scott, Foresman and Co. 

Woodberiy, G. E. Appreciation of Literature (Chapter on 
"First Principles"). The Baker Taylor Co. 

PERIODICALS 

The English Journal: 

Published by the National Council of Teachers of English, 
Chicago, Illinois. Editor, James Fleming Hosic. 

The English Leaflet: 

Published by the New England Association of Teachers of 
English, Boston, Massachusetts. A. B. de Mille. 

The High-School Journal: 

Published by the University of North Carolina. 
The Illinois Bulletin: 

Published by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. 
H. G. Paul, Urbana, Illinois. 
The Chicago School Record: 

Published by the Chicago Public-School Teachers. 



INDEX 



Abbott, Allan, 178. 

Alden, Henry Mills, 168. 

American literature, 161<-167; 
necessity for study of, 161- 
163; method of study, 163- 
167. 

Assignment, the, 34-37. 

Bacon, Francis, 135. 

Better Speech, 71-83. 

Bibliography, junior high school, 
11; definition and aims, 18; 
minimum essentials for junior 
highj-school English, 22; sep- 
aration of composition and 
literature, 26; the problem of 
the start, 33-34; supervised 
study, 37 ; correlation, 41 ; 
grammar, 47 ; punctuation, 
56; spelling, 61-62; vocabu- 
lary, 70; better speech, 84; 
written work, 95; letter writ- 
ing, 104-105; correction, 108- 
109; measurement of results, 
111; choice of literature, 117; 
teaching of literature, 129-1.30; 
reading, I.'IS; imitation, 148; 
dramatization, 159^160; Ameri- 
can literature, 167 ; magazine, 
173; World War, 176; history 
of literature, 180; teaching 
poetiy, 196-197; the drama, 
20O, 201 ; teaching the Odyssey, 
211; teaching of Sliakespeare, 
221; teaching Burke, 2.30; 



hints, 231-232; general meth- 
ods, 232-234; teaching of Eng- 
lish composition, 234; teaching 
of literature, 234-235. 

Bolenius, Emma, 205. 

Book, the, make-up of, 35, 123, 
124. 

Boynton, Percy, 162. 

Brown, Rollo, 19, 59. 

Burke, teaching of, 221-229; ap- 
proach to speech, 222; col- 
lateral reading, 223; method 
of analysis, 223-225; word- 
study, 225; imitative writing, 
223-228; present significance, 
228-230. 

Butler, Nicholas M., 86. 

Chancellor, Louise B., 215. 

Chubb, Percival, 16, 45, 113, 141, 
212. 

Club idea, 28; in teaching litera>- 
ture, 117-123. 

Cody, Sherwin, 60. 

Colby, J. Rose, 24, 134, 163. 

Conference, the, 107-108. 

Correction of themes, 105-108; 
proof-reading, 105-106; mark- 
ing, 106, 110. 

Correlation, 37'-41. 

Corson, Hiram, 184. 

Cunningham, W. H., 32, 115, 119. 

Current events, in the English 
class, 167-175. 



237 



>38 



INDEX 



Deahl, Jasper N., 141. 
Definition and aims, composition, 

11-15; literature, 15-18. 
Dewey, John, 115, 139. 
Drama course, 197-201 ; method, 

reading, 197 ; suggestions, 198, 

199; list of plays for reading, 

200. 
Dramatization, 148-159; a means 

of appreciation, 148-153; sugt- 

gestions for, 153-159. 

Ellis, Havelock, 60. 
Erskine, John, 132. 

Fairchild, A. H. R., 184. 

Form, minimum requirements 

of, 39. 
Fowler, H. E., 165. 

Grammar, 42-47. 

Hall, G. Stanley, 153. 

History of literature, method of 

treating, 176-179. 
Hitchcock, Alfred, 86. 
Hosic, James F., 15, 37, 131. 

Imitative writing, an aid in 
teaching composition, 139-144; 
an aid in teaching literaure, 
144-145; illustrations of, 145- 
148; 193, 194; 208, 209; 226. 

Inglis, Alexander, 23. 

Jenness, Mary E., 121. 

Junior higli school, 7-11; mini- 
mum essentials in English, 19- 
22; the start, 26-33. 

Leonard, S. A., 12, 50, 55, 87, 93. 



Letter- writing, 95-104; friendly, 
96-102; business form, 102- 
103; specimens, 98-102; postal 
instructions, 102-104. 

Literature, choice of, 112i-116; 
teaching of, 117-129; use of 
short story in, 119-123; de- 
vices for vitalizing, 124-129. 

MacCIintoek, Porter Lander, 152. 
Magazine, the, use in English 

class, 167-173. 
Mahoney, J. J., 50. 
Matthews, B., 149. 
McCain, H. P., 13, 73. 
Merrill, Margaret B., 31. 
Miller, Edwin, 37, 142. 
Morse, Katherine, 16. 

Noyes, Alfred, 215, 216. 

Odyssey, teaching of, 202-211; 
place, junior high, 202; ap- 
proach, 203-205; methods: 
memorizing, dramatization, im- 
itation, 205-209 ; example of 
imitative writing, 208, 209; 
value, 211. 

Opdycke, J. D., 114. 

Oral English. 71-81. 

Palmer, G. II.. 67. 

Pendleton, C. S., 8, 15, 16. 

Poetry, teaching of in junior 
high school, 180-189; aims, 
181; kinds, 181-183; method, 
183-185; Sohrah and Rustum, 
185, 186; in senior high school. 
189-196; lyric poetry, 190-192; 
pupil imitation of Keats, 193, 
194; war lyrics, 194; L*Alle-' 
gro and Jl Penseroso, 194-196. 



INDEX 



230 



Public speaking, Sl-RP,. 
Punctuation, 4.S-5G. 



Supervised study, 34-35. 
Suzzalo, Henry, 88. 



Reading, 130-138; outside, 136- 
138; reports on, 137-138. 

Separation of composition and 
literature, 22-26. 

Shakespeare, teaching of, 211- 
220; in junior high school, 
212, 213; in senior high school, 
213-220; metliods, 214; refer- 
ences on the period, 215; sug- 
gested dramatizations, 215- 
218; presentation of plays, 
218-220. 

Smith, Alphonso, 184. 

Snedden, David, 23, 25, 77. 
W Socialized class, 20-32. 

'Spelling, 56-61; team, 57-58; in- 
tensive, 58-59 ; vitalizing, 59- 
60; stock-book, 61. 

Stevenson, R. L., 141. 

Stratton, Clarence, 31, 71. 

Sumraey, George, 48. 



Thomas, Charles S., 37. 
Thompson, C. J., 32. 

Vocabulary, 62-69 ; dictionar • 
study, 64-65: slang, 65-66; en- 
larging, 67. 

Walker, Albert, 190. 

Ward, C. H., 46, 49, 53. 

Warner, Frances L., 118, 126. 

Webster, E., 117. 

Wendell, Barrett, 66, 168. 

World War, in the English class. 
173-175. 

Written work, 84-94; necessity 
for, 84-87; method, 87<-88; 
subject matter, 88-89 ; in the 
classroom, 89; audience for. 
90-91; frequency, 92-93; sum- 
mary of ])oints to be con- 
sidered, 94. 



LRejL'?8 



